Nikanaru
by Koday
Summary: [ILLUSTRATED!] She didn't want to, and he didn't care... The Higurashi family watched as Kagome disappeared down the Bone Eater's Well... and that was the last they ever saw of her. Years later, something finally came back through...
1. Max

Disclaimer

Quite obviously, I don't own any rights towards the Inuyasha franchise, and am not making any sort of profit off of all this. This is strictly a work of fan appreciation. I doubt I could even make any money off this if I tried.

Mind you, if I did think I could, I'd _totally _go for it.

(But I do claim unofficial ownership on any of my original characters.)

**_Nikanaru_**

**Chapter 1:**

Max

_I've never met the guy, but based on some of the things I've heard, Satan would NOT be a gentle lover._

According to popular rumor, Midterm week was second only to Finals week in terms of the worst possible hell a student could go through. And when we say "hell", that is to say that the experience was actually like a hole in the ground breaking open right in front of you, Satan himself crawling out and then, with his hooved feet, giving you a swift kick in the balls with such force that left no question that you'd just encountered the Lord of eternal torment.

While it was all metaphorical, Midterm week alone had already left Max feeling as though he'd not only had the living shit kicked out of him by said master of the Damned, but had also been tied down and repeatedly violated by him.

Metaphorically, of course.

_Jesus…so what's Finals week going to be like, then? _That dreaded though coursed like a rampaging army through the already ragged battlefield that was his mind. Having spent the last week doing nothing but study, study, study, eat, shit and study, Max's brain quite physically felt like an exhausted muscle, groaning in protest every time he'd think of anything more intellectually stimulating than primetime television.

_Aw, ya just finished Midterms…c'mon, relax a little. Just think of something else. _Putting the nightmare that was this past week behind him, Max tried elevating his somewhat fraggled mood by focusing on the cute little children playing in the park. Not that they were that hard to notice, given that their laughing and playful screams were plenty audible, even with the intense wind rushing past Max's head. It was cute, no question there, but it was also too inane for a mind that had been saturated in scholastic complications such as his had. So instead, he decided to pay unusual attention to the billboards and advertising posters he spotted as he went by. It actually became a challenge to read them all while moving at such blinding speeds.

_Let's see, let's see, let's see…Is my breath minty fresh? Am I worth it? Am I Zestfully clean? Are my panty liners absorbent enough? Is my headache an Excedrin headache? Is…oh, Jesus Christ, is it ever! Ow! _Speed-reading, however, only reminded him of the intense reading and the long hours spent studying a plethora of subjects given the way his eyes and head throbbed painfully in unison. Squeezing them shut, he at last decided simply to get home and do absolutely dick-all but snooze. He'd earned it, after all.

_Oops. Guess again, you jackass._ Chastising himself, it hit him that another plethora of tasks he had on his agenda were chores at the shrine, seeing as how he'd been putting them off all week in favor of studying. It would take him the better part of the evening to get them all done. He was inevitably screwed. There was no way he was going to be able to relax until at least tomorrow.

_Well, at least it'll be dumbed down, physical stuff. That kind of stuff I can deal with standing on my head._ He presumptuously thought. And was promptly corrected when he hit the roof of the building he was leaping onto much sooner than he'd anticipated. Eyes snapped back open, as did his screeching mouth, just in time to see the concrete roof his face was slammed into as his whole body tripped.

Pushing himself back up, Max brushed the dirt off his face, offering himself a self-loathing chuckle. _Probably should've taken the bus back. It might be worth dealing with the stench today._ Too late for that now, though, so he simply ran to the other side of the roof and sprang off of it, eyes open this time, onto the roof of the adjacent building, and continued in the direction of the Higurashi Shrine.

* * *

**16 Years ago**

"Bus pass?"

"Yep."

"Money?"

"Yes, mom."

"Cell?"

"All here." To prove his claims, Souta opened up the duffel bag to meet his mother's inspection. Hardly sparing the opportunity, Sakura Higurashi saw for herself that her son indeed had everything common sense would suggest he'd need for a safe class trip to Nagano. Though she didn't acknowledge this without some reluctance.

"Okay." She conceded. "We'll leave in fifteen minutes. You should go get something to eat." The boy nodded and went downstairs to the kitchen. In spite of herself, Sakura could only stand still, alone in her son's room, trying to come to terms with the sense of dread she was unable to overcome. In fifteen minutes, she would drive Souta to the bus stop, where, for the first time in two years, one of her children would be sent away from home for an extended period… Out of her reach, out of her supervision, out of her direct ability to see to his safety. She knew the trip was only supposed to be a few days, and that the trip would be chaperoned by several teachers, but no matter how she attempted to rationalize the situation, doubt and fear quaked at the foundations of her very soul.

When a hand rested upon her shoulder, she turned to see her father with a consoling look in his eyes. He knew this wasn't easy for her. Even Souta knew that. In fact, when he'd first told his mother about this overnight trip and had seen the sudden horror in her eyes, he'd tried to act as though he didn't really want to go, just for the sake sparing her the painful memories. For Sakura, the idea of Souta leaving home for something more than just a trip around town, but for a real overnight trip… it was absolutely terrifying. She couldn't handle it if something happened to him…if he left and then somehow never returned…

…her only remaining child.

"I'm okay." She assured her father, although the slightly trembling voice in which those words were spoken betrayed their very meaning. This was torture for her, yet she knew she had to endure it. She couldn't keep Souta locked up for the rest of his life. It wasn't fair to him. She had to try and accept that what had happened before happened under extraordinary circumstances, and she couldn't create an association between that and normal situations like this one.

Besides, Souta was going on a supervised class field trip, not through a time portal to a world full of demons and monsters, where all her contact with him would be completely cut off.

Leaving her father be, and while Souta ate, she took a walk around the shrine yards, as doing so usually brought her some peace. Not this time, though. She was simply unable to shake all the terrible memories this situation was resurfacing. Remembering how she betrayed every motherly instinct she now followed religiously when she had allowed her daughter to travel back and forth through an occult rift in time that had been discovered in her own back yard. In the well.

The Goddamned Bone-Eater's Well.

Everything in their lives had changed so quickly when the time-traveling properties of the well had been discovered…her daughter had disappeared for two days and the only explanation offered was from a seemingly delirious Souta. He'd sworn that a monster had burst out of the Bone-Eater's Well and dragged his sister back down it in a flash of light. Obviously, the child's claims were dismissed as either a result of delusion or shock, but either way, Sakura spent those two days frantically trying to find her missing daughter.

Then, just as suddenly as she had disappeared, Kagome had re-appeared at the bottom of the well.

Kagome's explanation for what had happened to her had been even more unbelievable than Souta's: That she had been sent back in time to feudal Japan, and had been in the company of demons and other unholy beings. However, she had been in such a state that it seemed she herself hardly believed what she was saying. Despite that Sakura's rational mind made it impossible for her to believe such a story either, Sakura just considered herself lucky that her daughter had returned to her safe and unharmed. She believed that the circumstances under which Kagome had disappeared weren't important, so long as she was home and safe.

She should have known better.

Barely hours after her Kagome had come back, _he_ came out of nowhere. The same nowhere where Kagome had reappeared from. And he dragged her right back, while Sakura and the rest of the family was stunned with sheer confusion. Only hours later did she return again, this time with him, and explain the extraordinary circumstances.

Demons. Time travel. War. Sacred jewels. Half of the legends her father had often ranted on about in hopes of selling cheap souvenirs to tourists had turned out to be true. As unbelievable as it all seemed, proof of it was right in her backyard.

That brought Sakura to the single hardest decision she ever had to make in her life; Her daughter was now determined to go back and forth through time to the Feudal era, a notoriously dangerous time, in order to collect fragments of a… powerful jewel before some… evil characters could.

Every motherly instinct in Sakura screamed for her to say "No." Refuse. Forbid it outright. What on earth kind of parent would willingly allow their child to venture somewhere the parent couldn't follow, where few safety measures existed, so the child could risk her life every day? The loss of her daughter was something she'd never be able to handle. Especially after having already suffered the loss of her husband.

But, before Sakura had said anything after her daughter had explained the situation, Sakura had taken a moment to think. She knew her daughter well, and knew that, despite her young age, Kagome had always had a strict sense of justice and fundamental right. Listening to her daughter speak of this "journey" she had to undertake 500 years in the past, Sakura could feel the passion emanating from Kagome's voice.

Kagome fully believed that going into the past and doing this was not only the right thing to do, but absolutely necessary. This jewel, the Jewel of the Four Souls as she called it, was a mystical object that could bestow immense power upon whoever possessed it. Thus, if the wrong person were to get the jewel, they would have the power to inflict immense pain and suffering onto others. Innocent people. And there was no way in hell Kagome was going to sit back and let that happen.

Sakura had known that if she had tried to forbid her daughter from embarking on this quest, Kagome would have gone anyways. If Sakura protested it and tried to stop her, it would only give Kagome a reason to avoid her, and avoid coming back home.

Furthermore, there was the demon…or half-demon, as he had later specified, that Kagome had traveled with: when pressed about it, Inuyasha had sworn to Sakura that he would keep Kagome safe. Despite the boy's gruff demeanor and attitude, (And despite her father's continual warnings that the dog-demon was a no-good, satanic roughneck.) Sakura had sensed a degree of sincerity in him. She knew he was physically strong… physical strength to match the strength of Kagome's willpower. Him being there alongside Kagome had helped reassure Sakura immensely.

Thus, and still with immense hesitation, Sakura had put on a fake smile and told Kagome that she had her support on this quest. Sakura had, of course, set conditions; rather predictable ones about Kagome returning home at least every two or three weeks, and keeping up with her studies while she was back in time.

And despite the lump in her stomach she always had whenever her daughter had been gone, despite her constant worrying, Kagome had always come back. Never hurt. Never scarred. The worst she had ever come back with had been some tattered and worn clothing. And Sakura had always greeted her with a smile, just as she had always sent her off with one, fake as they may have all been.

Despite that everything seemed to be going well, Sakura still never got used to the idea. Although she was perpetually worried for her daughter's safety, each time she came back Kagome seemed to have matured considerably. Hard to believe, but these trips to the feudal era were changing Kagome; building her character. She seemed to come back home a stronger person each time, until eventually, she almost seemed invincible. A fearless woman who was more that ready to take on any challenge life sent her way. Sakura prayed that when this quest was over, God willing very soon, Kagome would apply this same attitude to modern life. She would have gone very far in life had she.

And then there was the budding relationship she seemed to have with that half-demon. It slowly dawned upon Sakura that her daughter was, if not in love, then very close to it. Inuyasha too, from what she could tell, had strong feelings for Kagome. Whenever Kagome had come home in an angry mood, grumbling about the idiot dog-demon (Which happened pretty often.) Inuyasha eventually followed behind her with some attempt to either apologize or cheer her up. However sad, or unintentionally destructive, his attempts may have been. (A bicycle twisted beyond repair, several shattered ancient artifacts, and a few explosions in the back courtyard stood as testament to that.)

That did offer Sakura some measure of relief. To know that Inuyasha truly cared about Kagome meant that she knew he would protect her with his life. Even though Sakura has always known that Kagome wasn't telling her about half of the dangerous things that went on in the feudal era to spare her the worrying, Sakura was able, after two years, to ease up, and have faith that her daughter was in good hands.

She finally allowed herself to believe that her daughter would always come home.

Then, Sakura's worst nightmare happened.

Pausing in her steps, Sakura looked up at the old well-house. Two years ago, in front of that building, she had kissed Kagome on the cheek, given her some bag-lunch specially made for her and her friends on the other side of the well, and wished her well as she watched her daughter disappear through the time portal.

That was the last time she had ever seen her.

Two weeks went by. Sakura was curious, but unworried. Three weeks went by. Worry began to set in.

Two months passed.

Panic.

By that time, Sakura had been repeatedly jumping into the well herself, desperately trying to get it to work for her. Hoping she could somehow go find Kagome, go save her from whatever was preventing her from coming home. But the well denied her every time. Denied her her daughter. Denied her from even knowing what happened. If Kagome was even still alive or dead. Or suffering.

Not knowing was the hardest part by far. The two years since Kagome had gone had been absolute hell, Sakura never knowing for sure whether Kagome had been killed, or was hurt, or anything. Not a day went by where she didn't look at the well house and desperately hope that Kagome would finally appear out of it. Sakura found herself sporadically breaking into tears, crying for something…anything to give her hope that Kagome was even alive. At one point, she even found herself wishing that she could just know if her daughter was dead, so that Sakura could at least deal with it, and not spend everyday praying, hoping in vain, to the point where it physically hurt, that Kagome would come back to her.

And now she found herself in the familiar position she had been in every day for the past two years. After all this time, the hurt had never dulled. No. Today, it was even worse. Knowing that she had to let her only remaining child go off to where she couldn't be with him, assuring his safety, she was forced once again to deal with all the emotional damage that had all but killed her on the inside. And yet knew that she had to be strong and deal with them, for her son's sake, no matter how badly it hurt her.

And it did hurt. She wanted nothing less than to clutch Souta protectively in her arms and never let him go. But that was simply not possible. Her child would grow up, and she couldn't reasonably hold him back because of her insecurities.

And so, all that she was left with was to hug herself as she desperately trying to fight back to tears. She didn't do a terribly good job of it.

Just then, she heard a door open from the house, and quickly silenced herself, covering her face with her hands. She would NOT let Souta see her like this. She wanted to send him off guilt-free. She wanted him to have a normal, enjoyable trip that any other kid his age could enjoy.

However, even though Sakura was no longer crying, she still heard it.

She suddenly stiffened then, listening. Crying. Yes, that was what she was hearing. But from who? She turned around and saw Souta leaving the house with Grandpa, packing Souta's luggage in the car. Neither of them were making any sound. Listening again, hearing the crying, she'd now able to determine that it was neither hers, nor Souta's. This was a baby's crying, judging from the pitch. Turning back around, she realized that it was coming from

The well house.

She froze where she was. In that instant, it felt as if time itself had stopped. She couldn't hear the wind. She couldn't hear the sounds of the city. She couldn't hear her own breathing. All she could hear was the muffled wailing coming from the small building in front of her.

Finally, Sakura was able to move. Feeling like an anthropoid muscle trying to move again, she willed her shaking hands to the latch on the door.

Both Souta and Grandpa looked away from their efforts to pack the car when they heard the creaking shoji to the well house being opened. Immediate concern hit them both when they saw Sakura entering.

"Mom?" Souta called over to her. His mother had never set foot in that building since her last attempt over a year ago to use the well herself. He and his grandfather gave each other worried looks before silently agreeing to follow her. Something had to be very wrong for her to go in there again.

The old house was almost completely devoid of light, save for the invading column of it that leaked through the shoji. Sakura paused a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dark, as the crying only got louder. Now inside, she was able to determine that it was indeed coming from the bottom of the Bone Eater's well. However, it was so pitch dark that she couldn't see the all the way down.

In an almost automatic and robotic manner, she lifted her legs over the side of the well and began climbing down the ladder they had installed there so many years ago.

"Mom!" Souta called again, running up to the well house as he saw his mother descending into the well. For a brief moment, he was worried she had snapped. He feared that him going on this trip had once again made his mother desperate enough to try and use the well herself again. But just as he approached the doors, he heard the crying too.

"What on earth?" Grandpa remarked as he caught up and heard the noise. Both of them approached the well, looking down into its darkness where both Sakura and the sound now where.

"Mom? What is that?" Souta called down. When there was no answer, he was about to climb down himself, when he finally saw his mother coming back up, but climbing with a single hand. As she came up further, he was able to see why…

In her arm, Sakura now carried a crying infant child.

A quite distinctively demon child.

* * *

**Present**

_**CRUNK!**_

"Oh, son of a…"

Sakura's attention diverted from the book she was reading to the front door as Max struggled with the rickety, semi-functional slides. Grumbling in annoyance, the boy hefted the entire frame up, loosening it from whatever was blocking it and managed to open it enough to give him the leeway he needed to get into his own house. An equally frustrating struggle ensued when he tried to close it behind him.

_Guess that's first thing on my to-do list._ He noted to himself after the shoji's successful closing. Turning around, he offered a smile in return to the middle-aged lady smiling at him from the coffee table.

"Hey, Grandma." Giving a quick, two-fingered salute, Max headed off to the stairs leading up to his room.

"Max." Sakura called to him, halting him in his tracks. He once again turned around to face her.

"Yeah?" That question was met with an expectant expression from the woman.

_Uh-oh. Something's wrong._ He deduced. It couldn't be anything major, given that she still had that ever-present smile on her face.

"Oh!" He exclaimed in presumed realization. "The Midterms went okay." Still she simply smiled at him. "Uh, I'm pretty sure I did well." No change. "And…and I'm going to get started on my chores right away! Don't worry, I'll have 'em done before supper."

Sakura continued to smile at him, slowly stirring up a panic in Max's mind.

_What?.? What the hell is it?.!_

"For heaven sakes, Max,…" She asked. "You did remember, didn't you?"

_Remember? Remember what? Was I supposed to do something? What, is this some special day? Oh, shit, is it mother's day?.! No, no, that in May…or March. Well, one of the "M"s._

"Well, yeah! Of course!" Luckily for Max, one amongst his skills was acting. So the fact that his mind was racing blazingly to try and figure out what occasion it was was in no way reflected on his confident, self-assured facial expression.

_Is it mother's day? Father's day? Is it someone's birthday? Damn it, man, THINK!_

"So what are you going to do, then?" Another question which only added to the poor young demon's confusion. Deciding that instead of trying to seek the answer in the dank recesses of his own mind, Max should consult the agenda in which he had written all the important dates in at the beginning of the year. It was upstairs, in his room, in a drawer, under a pile of other books… probably. Truth be told, after he had gotten it and written in it all those months ago, he'd placed in somewhere in his room and never looked at it since. Slowly, he began inching towards the staircase while doing some good, old-fashioned stalling.

"Well, y'know, just let me unpack. I mean, what AM I going to do for this special occasion? Can't make a decision like that with all these excess textbooks straining my back like this." That, by any stretch of the imagination, was complete bullshit. The heaviest backpack that any high-schooler could be cursed with could ride on Max's back with absurd ease, given that Max had the physical strength to heave a family-sized minivan. Sakura, having raised him, would know that, and he would know that she would know. But Max had no time to let completely obvious details get in the way…he was oh-so close to the staircase, and a mere few more ramblings away to salvation from this potentially awkward moment!

When suddenly, Souta appeared from the kitchen and merrily shouted:

"Hey! Happy birthday!"

_AHA!_

"Happy birthday, Grandma!" Max immediately echoed triumphantly, arms outstretched as if to emphasize his exclamation.

Confidence was quickly diminished when the smile left Sakura's face and Souta stared at him as someone would stare at a mental patient.

_Fuck! Misfire!_

"Uh…" Max stammered, now out of ideas.

"Max?" Souta carefully asked.

"Yeah?" Max carefully responded.

"Max…" Sakura's warm smile graced her lips again, with a hint of humor in its curve. "It's your birthday."

"………………………………"

"…Nyuh?" The boy inquired articulately as he suddenly remembered the month and the day. Not that he was completely oblivious to the fact that it was the 17th, its just that he'd been so wrapped up in schoolwork lately that he'd had only a passing notice of dates. "Oh." Lowering his arms relief washed over him…well, that and a wish that he were limber enough to give himself a swift kick in the ass. Both Souta and Sakura were trying to restrain their chuckles, not that Max would have blamed them in the least for not bothering.

"You actually forgot?" Souta managed to get out as his chuckling died down. "Oh, man, I can remember when you were so excited when your birthday was coming up you couldn't sit still."

"Uh-huh." Max indignantly reminisced, looking over to the wall near the stairs where there was a peculiar discoloration hidden under a strategically placed portrait. The result of a shoddy attempt at spackling and painting the wall back up way back when Max had unintentionally crashed into it from coming down the stairs at too great a velocity. Hey, he had had a right to be excited; he had finally hit the big 1- 0 that morning.

And now, relatively few broken walls later, he had hit the big 1-6.

_I think._ Max reminded himself, given that they didn't know what his precise date of birth was. Instead, they just went by the date Sakura had found him at the bottom of the well.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Came her warm, grandmotherly assurance as she got up from the table and give him a peck on the cheek. "Kagome used to do he exact same thing. I'm proud that you're taking your studies so seriously."

"Yeah, well..." Max shrugged off the compliment. "Hey, it's no bid deal. I gotta finish all those chores tonight anyways." He moved to head back upstairs, but Souta quickly ran interception.

"Are you kidding?" He asked incredulously. "This is sweet sixteen, squirt!"

_When are you going to stop calling me that? I'm taller than you now, you prick._

"Come on, the Shrine's not gonna collapse overnight! Grandpa is gonna be back any second with your cake, and then we can all head out to a movie or something. You wanted to see '_Casual Armageddon'_, right?"

"Uh…I did, yeah, but…" Max paused to give a quick, indicating glance at Sakura. "I'm not sure that's the kinda movie we should see with the, uh…" Stopping a moment, he scanned his vocabulary for the appropriate word.

"Elderly?" Sakura finished for him.

"You said it. Not me." Max replied innocently.

"Oh, for heaven's sakes, I've more than seen my share of violent movies in my time." She assured him with a pat on the shoulder. "If that's the movie you want to see, then that's the movie we'll see. Simple as that."

"Simple as that." He echoed, smiling with a sigh. It was nice to know that his family was fairly open-minded about things, even if those things happened to involve adrenaline pumped films with grotesque violence and gore.

_And hopefully, no nudity. I do NOT want to watch a sex scene with Grandma sitting next to me!_

Or course, they'd have to be fairly open minded to adopt him in the first place. Hell, if any other person had found a demon-baby left in the bottom of a well in their backyard, the Vegas money was on them selling the baby to some lab for government experiments. Maybe instead of "Max", he would have been named "Subject X-666", and be turned into some super-soldier who was sent on dangerous missions for freedom and democracy, with the incentive of an explosive chip they had implanted in his head. Maybe they'd clone him and have a whole army of super-soldiers to do their bidding. And, in the spirit on mined Hollywood clichés, those clones would one day snap, turn on their masters and try to take over the world.

_Actually, that would be really fucking cool._

But in the end, Max's common sense thanked God that that wasn't the case. Instead, he had a family that had taken considerable risks to keep him, raise him, give him a public identity and give him a chance at leading a happy, relatively normal life. At least by human standards.

Not that he had any idea what the alternative, demonic standard was. What did it mean to be a demon? Max didn't know, and, frankly, didn't care.

Reflection of the life he'd lived up to this point, however, was brutally interrupted when a loud banging occurred just outside the defective shoji. All three turned around to hear the follow-up sounds of crashing and a stream of curses.

_Great Grandpa's home!_

All three rushed over to the shoji and jarred it open to the sight of Tetsu Higurashi on the ground, with what now appeared to be a box with squished cake inside.

"I can't believe this!" The family elder grumbled with a virility surprising of a man his age. "The cake! Gods, that cake was expensive!" Souta and Sakura moved to help the old man up, while Max regarded said cake, its smell clearly identifying it to Max's highly sensitive nostrils.

_Oh my COW. That was a Strawberry-Peanut-Butter-Vanilla-Icing-Double-Decker-Delight! He actually got it right this time!_

The smell immediately reminded Max of a perpetual frustration he'd had on his birthdays: He had once fallen in love when he went to his friend Dai's birthday party years ago and had a chance to taste that sweet, heavenly pastry, its aroma firmly burned into his memory. Every birthday of his afterwards, he had specifically requested that cake, only to have someone goof it up and give him something like Chocolate-Jelly-Raspberry-Icing-Quad-Carnal-Euphoria. Of course, Max had always been too polite to complain. He had just plastered on a smile and thanked his family, while weeping softly on the inside.

And now they'd actually gotten the long-lost cake of his dreams, only to have it smashed under the weight of an 84-year-old man.

While the others helped Grandpa inside, Max looked over the squashed box, staring at it like one would mourningly stare at the remains of a beloved family member.

And the aroma…dear God, how he had lovingly remembered that hauntingly delicious aroma. Even though the cake was now pizza, he found the smell even more delightful than he remembered.

_Wait a minute…_He rationalized, inspecting it closer. _Some parts are still good. Maybe if I just get the bits that haven't been squished into the dirt…although that's kinda gross…aw, hell, I didn't wait all these years for nothing!_

Souta helped Grandpa sit down, despite the old man's insistence that he was fine.

"For crying out loud, Souta, it's not like I'm anywhere near a state where I have to use a cane or ride around in one of those Rascals!"

"I know, Grandpa. We just wanna make sure that you stay that way."

"Forget me! You should all be outraged about that cake. Do you have any idea how much those things go for these days?.! If it wasn't someone's birthday, I'd have spent the night calling consumer protection over what they're extorting!"

"Oh, just forget about it, dad." Sakura admonished. "This is supposed to be happy day. We can just go out to eat."

"That's not the point! There's been wasted money here, and we're in the middle of a recession! Tourism around the shrine is low this year… we should learn from this and start being extra cautious with the money we got and the expensive things we get."

"Dad…"

"We should stick a notice on that door until we get it fixed so that no one will go crashing into it again. And we need to start making maximum use out of everything around the house. No throwing anything out until the bottle is absolutely dry!"

"Grandpa, any chance we could discuss this tomorrow? I'm sure Max doesn't want to spend his birthday talking abou..." Souta turned around to notice that Max hadn't followed them in. Curiously he and Sakura peered out the door and saw Max with his back to them, crouched on the front steps, holding a box up to his face.

"Max?"

Max turned around to face them. That is, to face them with a face now partially covered in strawberry, peanut butter, vanilla, and whatever else was in the remains to the cake. Sakura and Souta could only stare at him abjectly.

"That's what I'm talking about! Good thinking, Max!" Grandpa congratulated him before sticking a post-it note on the front door and heading into the kitchen. Eventually, the creeping of smiles began to cross the lips of Sakura and her son.

"Um…sorry, did you guys want some?" Max tried, offering the box and all its lumpy contents to them. "It's, uh, still pretty dang good." Both of them shook their heads no, and Max simply went into the kitchen with the box, while still grabbing at chunks of cake and stuffing them in his mouth.

_Happy birthday to me…happy birthday to me…_

_

* * *

_

Opening the door to his room, Max took a moment to stretch. Finally, after dealing with school, family, and what had to be the most bitchin', ass-stomping, skull smashing, bullet-riddled Jet Li action flick he'd ever seen, he got to have a few peaceful moments to himself. Not that he didn't mind having a busy life and being surrounded by people…hell, he couldn't stand not having anything to do, nor being alone for too long. He went nuts when he was bored, and tended to "make" his own fun, which was the leading cause of his groundings back when he was a kid. But it was still nice to have a moment to collect his thoughts, change out of the damnable school uniforms secondary students were forced to wear, and put on something more comfortable.

It also helped that he could, for at least a few seconds, take off that illusionary Toku crystal that hung from a string around his neck and give his true form a few seconds to see what little remained of the daylight.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Max regarded how his "demonic" features had grown along with the rest of his body. Given that he really had no knowledge of his own developmental stages, he had always been worried that at some point he might start developing new, weirder features, more difficult to conceal than the ones he already had.

But no. Even now at sixteen, he still had the same things he'd had since he'd been a kid: The fangs, the claws, the alien yellow-gold pupils…

…the pointy, elf-like ears…

…the jagged red stripes covering his face and wrists…

…the big, poofy tail…

…_and this weird-ass moon thingy on my forehead._

_**End Chapter 1**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Koday: **So, for those of you wondering "Where am I going with this?", I plan on this being a pretty danged long story. How many chapters, I cannot say just yet, but easily in the double digits.

And I've rated this fic **MATURE **due to the violence and the sexual content I intend to spread generously throughout in said later chapters. (Be advised, it may be kinda warm and cuddly now, but things will start to get down and gritty soon enough.)

I also can't comment on update frequencies, simultaneously because my life is sporadic, and also because I'm an asshole.

Finally, quick note: To my knowledge, Mrs. Higurashi has never officially been given a name. I've seen "Sakura" used in some other fanfics, and it just seems to fit. So I went with it. Anything else, I pretty much make up as I go along.

I've written fan fiction before, but this is my first attempt at a longer, somewhat more serious story. Do me a favor and criticize the hell out of me so that I can maybe turn this into something mildly acceptable, would you?

Cheers.

**Koday.**


	2. Al

Disclaimer

(Seeing as how I forgot to put one in chapter 1)

I don't own the Inuyasha series, nor do I aim to make profit off this. And frankly, I doubt I could if I applied myself.

However, I do claim unofficial ownership over my original characters.

**Note to readers:**

By the by, being an artist as well as a writer, I decided to go ahead and physically illustrate how I envision Max.

**www. deviantart. com/view/ 20182225/**

(Due to FF .net's prevention of hotlinking, you're going to have to copy, paste it, then close the spaces on your own. Sorry.)

And, yes, I know that's not very anime. I'm more so inclined towards classic Western animation, as you'll if you look at the rest of my stuff.

I might just make this illustration deal a regular thing, too. Just to give this story some extra _zing._

Anyways…

**Nikanaru**

**Chapter 2:**

Al 

_Or_

Growin' up Higurashi

The following is an entry from the personal journal in which Max Higurashi wrote in, based on his Great-Grandfather's recommendation that writing things down could help him sort out his feelings and personal conflictions over being a lone demon masquerading in a world of humans:

_September 22nd_

_Dear Journal,_

_Today I…_

…

…

…

_Fuck it. This is stupid._

This single page journal can now be found in a garbage dump somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo.

* * *

**Eleven Years Ago**

Grandpa Higurashi was, as most men his age do, taking time to appreciate the moment. It was a beautiful day out: The sun was shining brightly through the kitchen window, reflecting wonderfully off the polished sink and creating prisms of light throughout the room. The little fern tree he had situated on the windowsill was bathing in the sunlight radiantly, the envy of any other plant in the house. A cool breeze blew through the crack in the window; it's claming touch and melodious sound apexing the tranquility of the moment. And finally, the kitchen was clean, yet still held the aroma of the cinnamon rolls the Sakura had had for breakfast. Yes, Grandpa knew well that such wonderful, calming, soothing moments in life where rare, and they should be savored, to remember it as one of those all-to-few wonderful instants life held.

Unlike most men his age, Grandpa was a man of impeccable health. Most men n their mid-seventies would feel the inevitable crush of time, the deterioration of their bodies handicapping them. Forcing them to use canes, wheelchairs, glasses, watch their hearts, work their muscles less, eat more fiber…

Grandpa, however, had the advantage of having taken extremely good care of himself throughout his life, both physically and spiritually. Since his teens, he'd jogged regularly, ate healthily, meditated, practiced Kung Fu, and his studies as a shrine master made him privy to all sorts of health charms and naturopath remedies for his body.

The naturopath remedies, however, were strictly a placebo effect, because naturopathy is bullshit.

The pagan charms, on the other hand, had genuinely helped immensely.

Nevertheless, he was in exceptionally good health, and it seemed likely that the man could very well live to be a hundred.

And exceptionally good health proved to be an exceptionally good thing at that very moment. Because any lesser 73 year old would have suffered a exceptional myocardial infraction when an exceptional soccer ball suddenly came blasting through the window like a cannonball, missing his head by centimeters, sending glass shards flying in all directions, knocking the fern into the sink, crashing through several hanging pans from the ceiling, and finally embedding itself deep within the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Exceptionally.

That's not to say that Grandpa's heart didn't have a lovely workout from that fright. No, he was clutching it as if he were afraid an Alien was going to burst out of his chest. As he took another moment to steady his breathing, Souta suddenly burst in from the back door.

"Oh my god! Grandpa, are you okay?.!" He cried, inspecting him for any sign of injury. Finding none, Souta breathed a sigh of relief. Grandpa managed to settle himself, looked at his grandson and demanded:

"What in all the hell was that!.?"

"Max and I were in the backyard…" Souta began, inspecting the damaged room. Finding nothing threatening the structural stability of the house, he went back to the door. "…I was showing him how to…" Souta trailed off when he looked outside and found no sign of him. "Max?" He called out. No response. "Max!"

Scanning the yard, he eventually noticed a slight bit of trembling, poofy fur sticking out from behind a tree. Souta sighed and approached.

"Max. Hey, it's okay. Come on out." Reluctantly, Max poked his head out from behind the tree.

"You were showing him how to what? Aim a canon?" Grandpa asked, catching up as Souta coaxed the little demon out into the open.

"I was teaching him to play soccer." Souta explained, giving calming little pats to the kid who looked like he was ready to burst out into tears.

"So what, are you launching the balls with catapults now?" Grandpa continued, noting the distance in between them and the now-broken window, which was pretty far.

"Max kicked it." Souta informed him.

* * *

"He's five years old, and he kicked a soccer ball through two layers of our home." Souta stated, identifying the catalyst to the subject that he, Grandpa and Sakura were at the table, having a meeting over. 

"Well, I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose." Sakura rationalized.

"I know he didn't, Mom. I was there. But that's the whole problem." Souta replied. "If grandpa had been standing a few more inches to the left, that ball would've taken his head off." Sakura sighed and buried her face in her hands. This is what she'd been fearing since she'd taken in Max. Max was a demon, and they knew nothing about demonic children…the way they develop, their instincts, their natural abilities…what if Max was dangerous? What if, despite their best efforts to raise him well, Max just had natural inclinations that made him impossible to bring up in their world?

"Sweetie, sweetie…" Grandpa put a hand on her shoulder. "…we're not talking about giving him up. We love him too, you know." She took a slow breath and looked back up at the two.

"But we need to re-think how we're raising him." He added.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"I know…" Grandpa began. "…I know we agreed that we shouldn't treat Max any differently because of what he is…" He paused for a moment, considering his words. "…I mean, of course we don't want him to grow up thinking he's different, or a freak of nature or something."

"He's a sweet kid, mom." Souta added. "But…I think it's important that we understand that, in some ways we can't ignore, he IS different." To exemplify his point, he motioned over to the ruined kitchen window, floor and wall. "But even more important than that is that…HE needs to understand that." Sakura took a breath and nodded.

"I just…I was just hoping I could give him a normal life." She mumbled in defeat.

"He can, Sakura." Grandpa assured her. "But we also can't just ignore the fact that he's got those claws we can't clip, those fangs we can't cap, and the strength. If we ignore them, then he'll ignore them too."

"Mom, if we're going to let Max go out into the world, if you're serious about him using that crystal and going to school with other kids…" Souta continued. "…then he needs to know that he's a lot stronger than most people. He needs to know that he has to be delicate with others. What happens if he starts playing with other kids and accidentally hurts them? Or worse?" Sakura nodded. They made sense. She had maybe been a bit too optimistic about things. She had hoped that by not treating Max different, he wouldn't start to feel like he was different.

The problem now was, they had to explain to him that he was different, while simultaneously not making him feel different.

"So…" She placed her hands on the table in a very businesslike manner. "How do we do this?" A moment passed as the three of them lost themselves in thought.

Finally, it was Grandpa who broke the silence.

"What if I taught him Kung Fu?" That earned him some amazed stares from the other two. And not the good kind of amazed.

"We want to teach him not to use his strength…" Souta said very slowly, as if explaining it to a mental case. "…and you want to teach him how to fight? You sure the ball missed your head?"

"No, to teach him control." Grandpa replied, somewhat offended. "Martial Arts isn't so much about fighting as it is understanding your own body."

"Dad, I really don't know about that…" Sakura said, doubt more than evident in her voice as well.

"As we try to teach him about his strength…" Grandpa continued explaining. "…we also show him so he can really understand it. He takes a few light lessons with me so that he can get an idea of his own physical abilities. And that will give him some measure of control." The way he rationalized it did make the idea slightly more appealing to Sakura and Souta, but it still sounded iffy.

Regardless, this was something they were going to have to handle very carefully.

* * *

"How come I gotta wear these pajamas?" Max asked, noting that it was daytime out. He hoped these weren't new pajamas he'd have to wear. He liked his smiley face ones much better than these plain white ones. 

"Those aren't pajamas, Max." Grandpa proudly informed him. "That's a traditional martial arts gi."

"Gee?"

"Right." Grandpa continued. "Starting today, you're going to learn some Kung Fu."

"Kung Foo?" Max repeated, the work somewhat unfamiliar. "What's that?"

"It's a martial art." Souta informed him.

"Art?" Max wondered at all these new words. Was he wearing this because they were going to paint, and couldn't get his good clothes dirty?

"Max," Sakura began, kneeling to him and placing her hands on his shoulders. "…I've told you before that you're a special little boy, right?"

"Uh-huh." Max nodded.

"Well, sweetie, you're…" Sakura paused, trying to pick her words carefully. "…very, very special. So special, in fact…"

"Am I retarded?.?.!" Max suddenly asked in a panic. That efficiently shut everyone else up as they all gaped at him. A child who didn't know the words "Kung Fu", "Gi", or even "Martial Arts" was able to pick up a correlation between "Special" and the handicapped.

Yup, a special kid, indeed.

"No, Max." Sakura finally began again, mentally noting to have a talk with him later on about inappropriate words. "What I mean to say is that you're…unique. And while that doesn't make you any less better than anyone else, um…" She paused again. "…you also have to learn how to accommodate for your uniqueness."

Max blinked at her.

"What?"

"Oh for…" Souta sighed, stepping in. "Max, you remember when I tried to teach you soccer yesterday?"

"I didn't mean to!" Max yelped, suddenly wondering if this was all some weird sort of punishment for all the stuff he'd wrecked.

"I know, I know." Souta continued, calming the boy down. "See, that was actually my fault. When I told you to kick the ball as hard as you could, I didn't think you could orbit it." He stopped a moment to give the kid a chance to digest that. "So, before I teach you anymore soccer…or any physical sport whatsoever, you need to learn about your own strength. Because, squirt, you're a lot stronger than most kids your age are."

"I am?" Max wondered, looking at his own arms, checking for Schwarzennegarian ripples.

"You are." Confirmed Grandpa. "And to help you learn balance and control, you'll learn some martial arts."

"What's that?" The boy inquired.

"A discipline, which helps develop the mind and body." Grandpa informed him.

"Uh?" Max inquired, clearly confused.

"Remember that movie we saw on TV two days ago?" Souta attempted to clarify. "The one where the guy did a back flip and kicked a bad guy of the roof of that building and onto a car?" Max's eyes instantly lit up.

"YEAH!" The kid's enthusiasm was suddenly physically palpable. "You're gonna teach me that?.?.!" Grandpa and Sakura both shot Souta annoyed glances.

"Let's…let's try this again…" Sakura began.

* * *

They say that most predatory animals are more afraid of you than you are of them. This proved to be fairly true, as Max, despite being a demon and it being well within his capability to snap the necks of everyone surrounding him, was downright petrified. 

This was the first time in his life that Max had ever been around so many people. Not that he'd never been out in public before. In fact, he had gone on several errands with his Grandma, though those were few and far in between. Here, though, there were kids all over the place, a few adults here and there, all running around and rushing this way and that, talking, chatting, screaming, laughing. For a kid who had spent almost his entire life up until now isolated in a shrine, Max found this phenomenally intimidating.

Max was also afraid to move around too much, due to the #1 rule he had to obey while in public and wearing the Toku crystal: Don't let anyone feel your tail. Although the crystal gave him a human appearance, it was strictly an illusion. While other people couldn't see his ears, claws or tail, they would feel them if ever they touched them. The ears and claws weren't so hard to conceal, but the tail was a whole different story.

Before coming to school, Max had been taken out a few times to the mall for "practice." Most of the time, he kept his tail mounted on his shoulders like a mink, but if ever someone came to touch his shoulders or back, he had to see it coming and maneuver his tail out of the way FAST. Luckily, he'd managed to catch on pretty quickly, with only a few bewildered mall goers wondering what in the hell had brushed up against them.

Now Max was in a much more crowded area, and it made him nervous, both as a socially inexperienced boy, and as a stealth demon. Of course, Max's family had strictly instructed him to, no matter what, stay calm, don't get aggressive, and if, he was scared, to get an adult. Uncomfortable as he was, Max simply kept his head down and tried to find his designated classroom.

Luckily, no one bothered the jittery boy. The most interaction he had was the teacher who asked for his name and told him to take a seat when he entered his class. He sat patiently in his desk, observing with interest the other people in the room, but trying not to look like he was looking. It was also so odd to smell this many people. Some were pleasant, some were okay, and at least one person smelled like they were wearing a soiled pair of big-kid diapers.

While looking and sniffing around, a girl sitting a few seats across from him caught his attention. She was staring right at him. He tried not to look at her, only peeping at her out of the corner of his eye. She, however, kept looking directly at him, not focusing on anything else. Max started to feel really nervous, shrinking in his seat a little.

When a few minutes passed and she still hadn't turned, Max finally grew annoyed and stared right back at her. But his turning to face her didn't seem to faze her at all, and she just kept looking at him with curious eyes. A staring contest ensued for a few dozen seconds.

Finally, Max upped the ante when he stuck his tongue out at her.

Looking insulted, she rasberried him right back.

Max retorted by pulling on the sides of his mouth.

She reprised by pulling up her nostrils.

With his thumbs, Max stretched at his eyelids.

She shoved her pinky up her nose.

"Good morning class!" The teacher finally announced, making both Max and the girl ten-hut themselves into a respectful, no funny-faced seating at their desks.

"Good morning, teacher." The whole class replied in unison, as their parents had taught them.

* * *

Once the first parts of class had finished and the kids were out for recess, Max once again found himself huddled in a corner. Watching the other children run and play in fascination, he remained relatively quiet. 

"You're weird." A young, feminine voice suddenly chimed from his side. Jumping in a little bit of fright, Max turned around to once again face the girl.

"W…what?" He asked, never expecting a direct confrontation with anyone. Getting a close look at her now, he could see that she wasn't like the other kids at school either. Her skin was a little redder, and her hair was sandy blonde.

"You're weird." She repeated. "How come you're not playing with the other kids? Isn't it boring just sitting here?"

"No." Max defended himself. "This is lots of fun!" As if to prove his point, he stared forcefully back at the other kids with an exaggerated happy face.

"You're faking." She snorted, unusually pompous for a girl her age. "What's your name?" Max gave an automatic response, as Sakura had told him to always give his full name when asked.

"Higurashi Maximus." He recited. Pausing a moment, he then added. "But I like 'Max' better."

"Really weird." She concluded. "That's a western name."

"Western?"

"Uh-huh. Your name comes from the other side of the world."

"No it doesn't!"

"Does too! Don't you notice that your name sounds different from everyone else's?"

"I am NOT different!" Max shouted. The girl ignored him.

"My mom's from the west." She informed him. "I live in Mexico half the time, so I know these things." Her arms folded over her chest, as though finalizing the debate.

"What's your name?" Max suspiciously asked her.

"Alexandria. Alexandria Matsuko Valdez Tanaka." She recited.

"You've got four names!" Max exclaimed. "And each of 'em is weirder than mine!"

"Nuh-uh." She shot back. "I got four names cause I'm multicultural."

"Multiculpable?"

"My Dad's Japanese and my mother's Mexican. They want me to be a symbol of both my cultures, so they gave me two first names, and two last names."

"That's a long name. Don't you get tired of saying it all that all the time?" Max asked.

"Sometimes, yeah." She admitted.

"Don't you have a nickname? Like me being just 'Max'?"

"No, I just use my first-first name. Alexandria."

"That's still pretty long."

"It's not that long."

"You could still shorten it."

"Well, sometimes people just call me Alex."

"That's still too long."

"What?"

"You could just shorten it to 'Al'."

"No I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Al is a boy's name! God, you're dumb!" Max snickered.

"So? For you, it shouldn't make that big a difference, Al."

"You jerk!"

"You moron!"

"Butthead!"

"Pie-Brain!"

"Hijo de puta!"

"Y…what?"

"Blockhead!"

"Uh…baloney-butt!"

"Son of a…"

* * *

**Present**

"…bitch!"

"Skank!"

"Crotch-rot!"

"Clitoral fungus!"

"Ass!"

"Lack thereof!" Max called back at her, but was pretty sure that she was now out of earshot. He simply 'hmph'ed, and headed to the cafeteria, cursing the luck of having her as a partner for that last history project.

To say that their relationship was always that bad was a bit of an overstatement. Truth be told, they were somewhere in that narrow area between acquaintance and friend. And they'd probably stay there, considering this kind of thing was fairly regular.

After picking, with great discrimination, what he'd be ingesting from the cafeteria menu, he approached the same familiar table he ate at, with the same familiar faces.

"Ladies and gentleman," Dai announced as Max approached. "The man will one day receive a kick to the crotch hard enough to create a black hole between his legs!"

"Thank you, thank you." Max cheerfully replied as he took his seat. "And yet still, in that experience alone, my crotch will have had more female contact than any of yours ever will."

"I am just downright amazed she hasn't taken a swing at you yet." Ciro noted.

"So what was that all about?" Dai inquired between slurps of his noodles.

"Aw, the usual." Max grumbled, as he picked at his meat with a plastic spork. "She said I made our presentation 'Less serious" or some shit like that."

Max and Al had been assigned together to do a history report on the oppression of the Jews in Nazi Germany. They had worked together just fine until, during the actual presentation, Max had decided improvise in order to lighten the somber mood:

* * *

**Flashback: 15 Minutes ago**

_Al and Max stood before the class, both holding their respective papers, both going over the horrors of the holocaust. As Al went on with her half of the report, Max noted the dark, depressed look of the entire class. It wasn't pretty. He felt the need to do something about it._

"…_although the war had great financial woes on Germany, and the Nazi government was forced to instigate several major cutbacks, extermination of Jews was nevertheless a program which they refused to relent on. In a general staff meeting…"_

"_Someone sneezed." Max interrupted. Al turned to look at him confusedly._

"_Wh…what?"_

"_Adolf Hitler was conducting a General Staff meeting, when somebody sneezed."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?" She demanded._

"_So when Hitler heard it," Max continued. "…he whirled around from a map of Europe and said 'Who vas that?'" Max imitated a thick German accent, while Al gaped at him. "When no one answered, Hitler said 'I see. I vill have 10 of you shot. And maybe zen you vill tell me who sneezed?' A Gestapo agent took 10 people out of the room. Shots were heard, then silence. 'I vill ask again,' yelled Hitler, 'who sneezed?' Again, nobody said anything. 'Very vell'" he said, 'I vill have another 10 of you shot!' The Gestapo agent escorted 10 more people out of the room and executed them. 'For ze very last time,' screamed Hitler, 'Who sneezed?' Finally the guilty officer could stand no more. He stood up and said, 'It was me, mien Führer. I am the one who sneezed.' Hitler slowly approached the shaking officer and said, 'Bless you.'"_

_The entire class, teacher inclusive, burst out laughing. Exclusive to this, however, was Al, who wore a facial expression that clearly indicated her desire to castrate her partner._

**End Flashback**

* * *

In her fury, Al claimed that he'd undermined the seriousness of the holocaust, and their report. Max tried to defend his position by referencing Mel Brooks' "The Producers" as Jewish payback via mocking against Hitler. Al told him that Mel Brooks was a hack and prick. 

THAT had gotten Max mad. And that's about where the name-calling started to fly.

"C'mon, man, you know how she is." Ciro piped up, trying to cheer up his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Max grumbled. "But I seriously thought she'd get a kick out of that one." It had been a pretty depressing subject to research. Watching her in the library going over those holocaust books, Al had seemed even more depressed than usual. He'd just wanted to liven her spirits a bit.

"You'd have better luck raising John Lennon from the grave and convincing him to take up gangsta rap." Dai continued. "Seriously, why do you even talk to her? She's just another one of those stuck-up bitches."

"What're you talking about?" Joe shot back. "She ain't rich."

"Naw, she's like one of those Goth chicks who've got those holier-than-thou attitudes."

"She ain't no Goth." Joe shot back again. "She dresses normal."

"Not really." Kato added. "I know she's got a body, but she keeps wearing all those heavy clothes."

Max zoned out the conversation at hand. He didn't really care to gossip about Al, even though she wasn't exactly in his good graces as of now.

_But then again, really, what were you expecting?_ He wondered to himself. It had been virtually the same old routine between the two for the past ten years.

He'd known her since the very first day of school, and they'd ended up going to every same educational institution together. They were never exactly friends, but they weren't hostile either. Most of the time. Al was one of those girls that could easily be stereotyped by others due to her somewhat unsocial behavior, but Max knew her well enough to know that she was a bit more complex than that.

She was an odd one. Back in grade school, she actually came off as just a bit snooty, so naturally Max had loved annoying her. Even as a kid, she had taken things pretty seriously, but she did so with a lot more life. Once, she had come to school complaining about the deterioration of the ozone layer, something most other kids their age didn't even know of, let alone care about. Max had jokingly suggested getting the entire school to poop in a pile to help create fertilizer to feed the plants.

She'd thrown her chocolate milk at him.

Nowadays, she was still serious, but in a much more passive, almost defeated kind of way. She'd grown gradually cynical, sometimes downright self-righteous. Sneering at most other people, rolling her eyes from any conversation she overheard ranging from sports to computer software. She scowled at politics, frequently referring to politicians as either "Idiotic", "Corrupt" or "Blitheringly Incompetent."

She did have her own group of friends, although they only hung out together occasionally, and they were mostly composed of Goths. Actually, it seemed that half of the time she couldn't stand them, but she could relate to their "Damn the world and damn humanity" conversations. She did leave, however, as soon as the subject of their conversations turned to vampires and Wicca.

Not that she thought that she was better than anyone. In fact, she even oft times complained about her own lack of resolve to do anything productive or beneficial.

Oddly enough, Max and her did sort of hang out whenever either of them had nothing better to do. Although it wasn't so much based on any semblance of liking each other, but rather on their utter familiarity, and thus comfort, with each other. Usually, they kept it civil, although Al would inevitably moan about some injustice, and Max would try to cheer her up, and she'd shrug it off. Or yell at him for being such an immature boob.

Maybe the reason Max kept talking to her occasionally was because he secretly really wanted to get her to laugh at something. Smile. Hell, even snort, but the girl was an impregnable wall. Max had no idea, though, why she kept coming back to him.

Max was, after all, a fine example of everything she claimed to detest: He was mostly apathetic towards global events and politics, he split his time between sports, video games and movies, and was a bit of a clown.

_I mean, fuck, I'm not an asshole, but I just can't drop everything and cry every time some village in some third world assfuck country loses a goat._

…_whoa, speak of the devil herself._

Amidst the plethora of smells emanating from the cafeteria, Max suddenly picked up her familiar scent, and peeked off to the side. There she was, on the other side of the room, on a lone corner of a table with her bag lunch and ever-present sketchbook.

That's what she did end up doing with most of her time. Drawing and sketching. Oddly enough, though, she wasn't taking any art classes, although Max had seen her work and she was pretty good.

She hadn't shown him voluntarily of course. Max had once swiped her sketchbook, drawn moustaches on all her figures and discreetly put it back. While he had had it, he glanced over her drawings and still-lifes, and found them surprisingly good. It almost made him feel bad about defacing them.

…_almost._

She had also been uber-pissed when she found out. Luckily for him, he'd left no evidence in the sketchbook leading to him.

"Max!" Ciro said again.

"Eh?" He turned his eyes back to his group.

"How come you got the steaks today?" He asked. "The ramen's on special."

Max grimaced in revulsion.

"Because that shit's disgusting." He sneered. "I can't believe you all put that industrial crap in your bodies."

"It's cheap, and it's flavorful." Kato argued.

"I would rather eat an anthrax-flavored corpse."

**End Chapter 2.**

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Story seems to be shaping up a little better now. Still, I want you all to review with the utmost mercilessness that you can, so I eventually upgrade this to a mildly tolerable read. 

Go on. Make me feel pain. Make me your bitch.


	3. Kung Fu Cheerleader Revenge

**Previous Chapter illustration**

www. Deviantart . com/view/20499491/

It's Al! In all her moody glory.

Again, you'll have to type that in yourself. Don't blame me, blame…Well, not They could just kick me off. Okay, then, blame…Dave!

Yes, Dave. Go blame him. Go on.

**Nikanaru**

Chapter 3:

Kung Fu Cheerleader Revenge

Or

Stuff Finally Starts Happening

Phys Ed. Dodge ball.

_Yeehaw._

In his own mind, Max held a sort of "Top Five" ranking of his favorite classes. Positions fluxuated depending on the circumstances, such as due dates and upcoming projects, but generally speaking, it went something like this:

**5: Biology**: Largely unremarkable and boring, but the occasional organism that they got to dissect gave the class some major "Groovascious" points.

**4: Art class**: Because the teacher was one of those art-for-art's sake blowhards. So despite the fact that Max had the artistic talent of a walnut, all he had to do was make up some bullshit about how his unrecognizable mess on the canvas represented the self/quest for enlightenment/comments on the social condition/represents everything by representing nothing. If he was convincing enough, it was "A" for effort.

**3: English:** Luckily, not a class where much time was spent analyzing Shakespeare, but mostly spent on students' own writings. Which meant that Max could write scathing monologues, poems, soliloquies, and horror stories about his various pet peeves. Society's foolish embracing of headset phones was the popular topic of late.

**2: Phys Ed:** A common favorite among students, this was a class where they could, for a little less than an hour a day, leave behind their academic worries in favor of physical ones.

Like broken legs.

Despite the fact that he was constantly suppressing his strength and speed, Max still loved sports. It was exhilarating for him, as though he had an adrenaline lust and needed a good fix. Generally speaking, he tried to stay active and get some good amount of exercise. He tried at times to push himself to his own limits, but the only times he ever got to use his full physical abilities was when he was in the woods at the back of the shrine, or when he was jumping rooftops across town.

But the problem was that he always did those alone. He couldn't unveil the full extent of his physical prowess in front of others, and even if he did, he couldn't expect them to keep up with him. And that was…well, boring. So in spite of the fact that he was holding back immensely, a good game of basketball, football, soccer, or hell, even dodge ball was a great rush for him.

Furthermore, Max had this downright bizarre "thing" where he felt a compulsive need to go fetch tossed balls.

And sure enough, he successfully nabbed the ball that the opposing team had tried to nail him with. And, sure enough, a semi-sadistic grin emerged on his face as he sent the ball sailing right back at his assailant. Not too hard, of course, but just enough to let the other guy know that Max was no pushover. The ball struck true, and bounced off the guy's chest in his failed attempt to claw at it.

"YEAH!" Yelled Kato. "Suck on THAT!" He then turned to Max, palm raised in the air, expecting a high-five.

"Uh…yeah. Been eating my Wheaties or something." Max returned with a half-hearted slap. As much as Max liked winning, he wasn't exactly much of a show boater.

The hell's with him today? Normally, Kato wasn't either, which caught Max off guard. 

Several yards away at the volleyball courts, Al turned around at the sound of cheering. There were the boys', jumping and chanting immaturely over an ultimately useless achievement. Typical.

She sneered and returned her attention to the badminton court as her team served. The class went on fairly uneventfully, with her playing like a person who had to do it for grades. She was bored out of her skull, not caring to play a game she didn't like with people she didn't like.

Speaking of people she didn't like, the sound of a door suddenly slamming open brought her attention to the exits leading out of the main building. Two girls stormed outside onto the courtyards, and it only took a second for Al to recognize them as Yoshi and Kina, two members of the school cheerleading team.

Cheerleaders were far from her favorite kind of social group in school. In fact, they were among her least ranking. She always knew them to be vapid, shallow, and downright skanky. Trophy girlfriends for jocks with little to actually contribute to society.

What made Al suddenly so interested in them was the fact that at that moment, they didn't look at all like the stereotypical shallow cheerleaders she'd known. Instead, they both wore expressions of immense seriousness and anger. As they marched forth, their body language indicated an obvious urgency, like a cat preparing for a confrontation. And they were making a beeline for the boys' courts. Al found that this peculiar picture caught her interest far more than any insipid round of badminton she was playing.

"I'll…uh, be right back." She said as she excused herself from the court. Given that she wasn't the most popular gal in class, no one bothered to ask her if something was wrong, and their phys ed. coach was supervising another match on the other end of the girls' courts.

Rushing, but not running, to keep up with the charging cheerleaders, she saw them both reach the boy's court and confronted the closest male in their vicinity. One who was standing just outside the court in the "out" area.

"Which one of these guys is Yamaro Seika?.!" Yoshi demanded as she came up to him. The guy was startled, as anyone would probably be when suddenly confronted with clearly enraged ladies. He hesitated, stammered, seemingly unable to complete a full sentence. "Answer me!" She demanded again.

"Oh yeah! I'll bet that hurt like a dirty, rotten bitch!" Kato yelled over the game again, giving Max a slap on the back. Max, kinda just put his hand behind his head and shrugged, kind of getting into the spirit.

"Yeah, well, what the hell."

"T…that guy!" The boy stammered, pointing at Max.

Catching up to them, Al was about to correct him. She never got the opportunity, though, as Kina and Yoshi immediately marched into the dodge ball court. A few of the boys noticed, able only to offer perplexed glares. Max didn't see them coming, though, as he had his back turned to them as he mimed blowing the smoke out of his freshly shot imaginary pistol.

"HEY!" Kina yelled at him as they closed in.

Max turned around just in time to see her fist ramming into his face.

The entire court gasped as he staggered back, not so much from pain but in sheer surprise. Before he could regain his footing, he received a swift kick to the gut from Yoshi.

_WHAT THE FUCK!.?.!_

He quickly hopped back a distance to identify his assailants, only to have them charge right at him. This time, Max had enough time to block an oncoming backhand from Yoshi with his wrist. As he defended himself, however, Kina shot foreword and tried a sweep kick on his feet. Seeing that coming as well, he jumped it and hopped back again.

"What the hell are you doing?.!" Max yelled out to them, but received no response as they shot right after him. In stupor and confusion, all Max could do was block and dodge.

Al, the boy's class and their gym coach all gaped in stunned shock as these two cheerleaders just popped out of nowhere and relentlessly assailed Max.

Having had some training from his Great-Grandfather in martial arts, he could tell from both Kina and Yoshi's moves that they were clearly well versed as well. Probably more so than him. Max, however, had his natural speed and strength at his disposal, so he was able to keep up with their movements. But he couldn't possibly return any blows because:

They were girls, and he was a boy. No one likes it when boys hit girls.

He had no fucking clue what the hell was going on.

If he did try to hit back, he could accidentally rip through them. No one likes it even less when boys maim girls.

But the fact that there were two of them wailing on him relentlessly didn't make things particularly simple. He blocked, dodged, defended and parried every shot, but not easily, and he was continually being pushed back. While Max did know some Kung Fu moves, he had never actually sparred with anyone.

Soon, he had been pushed back to the bleachers. Seeing little other recourse, he jumped up onto it and tried climbing up to escape the girls. Not much luck there, as they jumped right up after him, still kicking and punching. They moved expertly, hopping from one step of the bleachers to another as they rained blows upon him. Max carefully tried to watch his footing as he kept defending, but took a misstep and went crashing down. He grunted and looked back up just in time to see Yoshi about to heel-stomp his head. Yelping, Max rolled out of the way, dodging barely, crashing down onto another step. He looked back up, only to see her trying again. He rolled, and crashed down another level. Before they could repeat this all the way to the pavement, Kina grabbed him by his hair and pulled him to his feet, while her other hand grabbed his arm and locked if behind him, presumably pinning him. Max could have broken that hold, but had his arm pinned in such a way that no "Human" could break it by brute strength. If he did that, it would mean exposing his superhuman strength.

_Maybe I could just convince them that I'm a steroid fiend!_

On the other hand, as he stood there, arm pinned and hair being yanked on, Yoshi was winding her arm back to deck him, and deck him good.

_Hmm. Be labeled a druggie, or get ass kicked by girls? Shit._

"STOP IT!" A new voice screamed across the court. All heads turned to another cheerleader, Reya, flanked by other members of the cheerleading squad, She looked at them with tear-filled, and blackened eyes. "What are you doing!"

"Goddamit, Reya, we're gonna make this bastard pay!" Kina shouted back. "You can't possibly want to defend him after what he did!"

"That's not even him!" Reya screamed back between sobs.

"What!" Yoshi, still with her fist at the ready, looked over Max, still pinned down. "You're…"

"Um…hi?" Max greeted her unsurely, offering a shake with his free hand. "Max Higurashi." Yoshi and Kina traded incredulous looks a moment before Kina finally released him.

"So…" Kina said, looking over the class of mystified males. "Which one of you is Yamaro?" The name ringing a bell for most of the class, heads began scanning the area for that individual.

"Um…'scuse me?" Al said, stepping forth. "Yamaro was the guy that you two first asked." Looks of horror hit their faces. "The guy who went running off that way." She added, pointing towards the corner around the building, leading to the parking lot.

Yoshi and Kina both grunted in frustration and sped off in that direction. Leaving a bewildered gym class, and an extremely bewildered Max.

"Wait!" Reya called after them. "Please, don't! You'll just…" She broke into tears again. "He…oh God." A few other girls hugged her closely, offering her some comfort.

"What the FUCK was all that about?" Max demanded as he descended the bleachers.

"You know Yamaro?" One of them questioned him.

"I…well, I'm aware of him, yes." Max did know Yamaro. Not personally, but they did take a few classes, this one inclusive, together. Pretty much all he knew of him was that Yamaro was on the school baseball team.

"Well that rat fucking bastard…" She began to shout angrily, but quickly controlled herself. "…he…" she now hesitated, looking back at the sobbing Reya, unsure if she should announce it for all to hear.

Reya beat her to it.

"HE RAPED ME!" She screamed, as if unleashing all her pain, all her rage into her voice. "HE FUCKI…kaa!" She choked on another sob before she could continue.

The entire class looked wide eyed at her. There was utter silence, save for Reya's wracking sobs.

Moments passed until finally the coach stepped forth and took charge.

"All right, girls, you get her inside and at the nurse's office." He instructed. "I'll call the principal, and the councilor. And the cops." He then turned to the class. "The rest of you, stay here until the end of the period." With that, the coach escorted the girls inside, while the class continued to just stand there in horrific awe of what had just happened. No one was quite sure what to say, but some murmurs began to emerge.

"Jesus, can you believe…"

"I knew he was an asshole, but…"

"In OUR school? I never thought…"

"I hope they chop his fucking shlong off…"

Of them all, it was Max who stood in disbelief the most. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Not to him, and not to people he knew. Certainly he knew of rape, but hearing about in the news was nothing compared to actually being there, actually knowing the rapist and actually seeing the raped screaming and crying in rage and sorrow. It was downright shocking.

No, Max had never witnessed this kind of drama firsthand. And he didn't like it one bit.

Looking off in the direction that Yoshi and Kina had ran off to pursue Yamaro, Max sniffed out his scent. It still lingered. Chances where that, during their fight with Max, Yamaro had had a good head start, a chance to run off and hide. Surely he would at least be caught by the cops at some point, but the cops always did things by the book. He would be arrested, tried, and…MAYBE if things went well in court, charged. Max, on the other hand, presently shared the sentiment of Kina and Yoshi…that the bastard should get a proper beating for what he'd done. No, much worse than proper.

_Fucker…_

Max headed towards the building, rubbing his face where Kina had slugged him.

"I'm, uh, just gonna get cleaned up." He let everyone know. Truthfully, the blow from Yoshi had barely even hurt him, but he kept his hand on his cheek to create the illusion that it was actually wounded. No one questioned him.

Max rounded the corner leading back to the locker room building. He gave a quick glance around the area to make sure than no one else was looking. When that was assured, he jumped straight up.

Five stories.

Landing on the roof of the school, Max instantly shot off to the corner overseeing the parking lot. Unfortunately, this was a big lot with a fair number of cars, and thus was a great hiding space. Sure enough, there was Kina and Yoshi, split up and searching all over for Yamaro, shouting threats of violence and demanding that he show himself. Apparently, the bastard had indeed hidden himself, or taken off altogether. Even from his aerial view, Max couldn't see him either.

The lot was sandwiched between the school building, a large cement wall and the gate. The gate out was currently closed, so Yamaro still had to be in there somewhere. From his height, Max wasn't in a great position to track scents, but he could determine that Yamaro's was strongest in the Western corner, near the maintenance hut.

He took a flying leap off the roof and onto said hut, with practiced speed and silence, avoiding notice. The scent only strengthened, and Max knew that Yamaro was right nearby. The hut was right next to the wall, and when Max peered over the edge, sure enough, there Yamaro was, hiding in the alley between the hut and the wall, behind some equipment. He was peeking out at the lot, checking the girl's position and waiting for the best time to make a break for it.

Max wasn't going to give him that chance.

Just as Max was about to descend and beat the hell out of him, he found himself pausing as the rush of the moment passed, now leaving room for rational thinking. If he jumped out and exposed himself now, those who saw him leave the courts on the other side of the building would find it odd that Max crossed the school grounds in so little time. And found Yamaro so fast.

But besides that, could Max really be certain that if he wailed on Yamaro, he wouldn't kill him? Or even if he only broke a few bones, that was an assault charge right there. Even if it was justified.

_Damn it._

Max paused for just a moment to think things through, all while watching Yamaro and making sure he didn't escape.

_He should be beaten. But I can't be the one to do it._

"I swear to God, I'm going to tear you balls out and shove 'em into your eye sockets!" Came another furious scream from the parking lot.

_On the other hand…_

There were two others who were more than capable, and willing, to deliver the pain Yamaro so richly deserved. All Max had to do was lead them here.

_I can't just call them, of course._

Looking around, an idea hit Max. He ever-so-silently leapt down into the alley just behind Yamaro.

Yamaro was still looking nervously at the lot. The girls were now at the other end. If he quietly made a break for it now, there was a chance he could make it to the gate booth, open up the fence and escape. Stiffly, he began to creep out from the equipment he was hiding behind, preparing to make a dash behind the cover of a nearby Mitsubishi.

When suddenly, he heard what almost sounded like a dog growling.

Yamaro spun around to see a big, blue recycling bin hurling at him.

Yoshi and Kina were instantly alerted when a massive crash was heard, along with a grunt of pain. Turing to the maintenance hut, they both saw Yamaro go crashing out from behind it along with a toppled bin and several sheets of paper flying in the wind.

They were instantly on him like jaguars on prey.

Still on the roof of the hut, Max, with some grim satisfaction, listened to Yamaro's pleas of mercy and yelps of pain as he was beaten bloody.

**

* * *

**

**15 Years Ago**

Kagome's room was dusty and dank smelling. No one had set foot in it for almost a year now. The door had been kept shut, and the windows closed. After so long, Sakura was now in there going through Kagome's old things. Had she tried doing this a few months ago, looking at all these possessions and keepsakes that her long lost daughter had had would've been far too painful for her to handle. Over the past two years, she had had to keep the door shut on account of the sorrow she'd be filled with every time she passed by the room. It still was painful now, of course, but recently it had been much easier for her to talk about or do things related to her daughter. It was a doubly good thing because the room had what must have been an inch of dust all over it, and didn't smell great. She'd have to clean it up some, when the opportunity presented itself.

"What's doing?" Souta asked as he entered the room, wrinkling his nose at the musty smell and displaced particles in the air..

"We need more rubber nipples." Sakura told him. "He chewed through the last one." That statement confused Souta in conjunction with what Sakura was doing.

"Um…Sis kept rubber nipples in her here?" He asked, seeking clarification.

"No, no. I'm looking for that crystal." She replied. Souta hesitated for a moment as she wondered what she was referring to, but it quickly clicked: The Toku Crystal.

During the last months that Kagome had been coming home with Inuyasha, she'd brought back from the feudal era a crystal of sorts. Apparently, back when demons were more populous in the world, some had sought to blend in with the normally xenophobic humans, and certain mystic crystals had been fashioned to help them do just that. During her travels in the Feudal era, she had managed to get her hands on one, and brought it back. It had a remarkable effect: All Inuyasha had had to do was wear it on his person, and his ears, claws, silver hair and golden eyes would simply fade away, replaced with black hair, black eyes, and other perfectly human features. He himself hadn't been too pleased with it, but the effect was strictly an illusion, so he hadn't lost any of his demonic abilities. Plus, it had been much more effective and convenient than that baseball cap he had usually worn. Disguise was a necessity if he insisted on following Kagome around when she was in the city.

Kagome had left it in her room with the intent of using it whenever they'd come back, but seeing as how she hadn't for two years now, it had been left sitting around somewhere in there. Sakura was now determined to find it.

"Why?" Souta inquired.

"I thought I'd take him with me to the store this time." Souta eyes bulged just a little bit at that piece of information.

"What?" He spat out. "Mom, he…well…"

"What's wrong with that?" She asked him back. "He acts just like any other baby."

"Besides the whole 'chewing through furniture' thing, yeah." He maintained.

"You chewed on things too, kiddo." She informed him. "He's just actually got the incisors. I…aha!" She finally pulled the crystal out of one of the desk drawers. It had a string going through it, making it a necklace of sorts.

"You really sure about this? I mean, what if you run into someone we know? They're gonna start to wonder where this kid came from."

"Souta, it's not like we can just keep Max in the house forever. That's not very healthy." Souta blinked.

"Max?" He repeated.

"Right." She confirmed. "That's his name."

"Oh." He replied. "Well, I guess we can't just keep calling him 'it.'" He paused a moment. "Why 'Max'? That a bit of a weird name."

"Because…" She said as she left the room. "…that's what Kagome said she wanted her first child named." Once again, Souta was stunned with that statement. He jogged after his mom down the stairs.

"Wait…what?"

"Haven't you figured it out?" She smiled at him. "That baby is Kagome child."

To say that Souta was thunderstruck would be a bit of an overstatement, but when he opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't quite get the words out. Kagome's child? His sister's son? His nephew?

Souta had been worried over the state of his mother's mind ever since Kagome had disappeared. Sakura had gone into a spiraling depression over the two years since, and had been in an extremely fragile emotional state, at times acting erratically. Sakura had dedicated her life to her children after her husband's passing, and Kagome's disappearance had taken a chunk out of her very being that would have caused lesser women to give up hope entirely. Souta had wondered if he was the only thing keeping her from going completely off the deep end.

But amazingly, ever since the demon baby had appeared, her mood had significantly improved. Souta had been worried at first, but her mother seemed to have been fulfilled with renewed purpose and hope. He at first thought that it had simply been on account of having a new child to take care of, but now this…was his mother deluding herself? He had to handle this carefully.

"Uh…how do you figure?" He asked in a tone he was careful not to make sound insulting or doubtful.

"Well, for heaven's sake, Souta, nothing ever came through that well except Kagome and Inuyasha. Who else would know to use it?" Souta nodded. Okay, so there was a bit of logic behind her assumption. He did, however, deliberately refrain from mentioning that a centipede demon once came through too.

"But…" He nevertheless felt the need to point out. "The kid's a demon."

"Right." She replied. "Because he's Inuyasha's son." THAT caught Souta off guard. His sister and Inuyasha? Sure he'd known that the two were always googley eyeing one another, but this…

"I'm not sure why she decided to send her son through the well…" Sakura began as she headed for the kitchen where Max was. "…but she wants us to keep him safe and happy. And that's exactly what I'll do."

They approached the old crib where the kid…or Max was now laying in. he gargled, cooed, and make all sorts of baby noises. It was true that he at least sounded like any other human child. Sakura picked him up and carefully placed the loose fitting crystal on him. Both she and Souta watched in fascination as Max's tail just disappeared, his claws retracted, his marking disappeared, his ears rounded out, and his eyes change from gold to blue.

Baby Max immediately whined his discomfort, pulled the crystal off of himself and began chewing on the string. Sakura laughed.

Looking at the demon features as they re-appeared, Souta's doubts were only reinforced. True, the kid was a demon, but aside from the silver hair and the eyes, he didn't look a thing like Inuyasha. No dog ears on the head, but pointy-elf-like ones on his sides. Also, Inuyasha never had a tail, or stripes on his body, nor a crescent moon on his forehead.

And supposing this child was Kagome's son? If Kagome had sent that child through the well, why hadn't she followed right after? There were just too many things about this that didn't make sense. So why would his mother choose to so adamantly believe that? But Souta chose not to voice any of these concerns.

Although he was young, he could also tell what his mother had chosen to let this kid represent for her…hope. Hope that Kagome might still be alive on the other side of the well. Hope that she would be coming back. And even if not, hope that her daughter had, for at least a time, been happy enough with Inuyasha to have a child with him. Hope that her daughter's memory would live on in one way or another.

What kind of son would he be if he tried to shatter that hope?

* * *

**Present**

The restroom was mercifully empty of other people, and of smells. Max looked at himself in the mirror above the sink, noting his completely unmarred features. He looked perfectly healthy and unhurt.

Something had to be done about that.

He'd seen firsthand the power Kina could put into her punches, and it was a lot. He'd seen what effect they could have on someone when she was pissed off. They'd just bruise, if the victim were lucky. And human.

Problem was that Max wasn't. He had no bruise, or even a red spot. Anyone who saw that shot would probably wonder why Max looked fresh as a daisy. Which left one option.

Max had a balled up fist pointed right at his own face.

_Okay, man. Just do it. No hesitation. No chocking. Do it once, and do it hard._

He took a few slow strokes, practicing the path his curled up arm should take. His middle knuckle targeting his cheekbone.

_Three…two…_

Arm winded back down to his chest, deep breath taken.

_ONE!_

As though a malevolent spirit had possessed his arm, he nailed himself right in the face at full strength. He expected to just stagger back a little, but was a little surprised when he sent himself tumbling on the titled floor.

_Ow. _

_Ew! Oh, God, bathroom floor!_

Scrambling back up and wiping himself off, he checked his work in the mirror and was pleased to see that he had a pretty decent looking spot that would probably bruise nicely in a few minutes. Smiling, and then wincing at the pain it now was to smile, Max exited the bathroom and headed toward his locker just as the bell rang and people began flowing out into the halls from their classrooms.

As he put his books back and got his lunch ready, he sighed in reflection of the day's dramatic events. Events like that had been fairly rare in his life, and he was a little surprised at his own reaction to them. He got furious, which was pretty seldom for him, and came incredibly close to tearing Yamaro to shreds himself. He didn't even actually know Reka personally. Thank God he'd managed to salvage enough common sense to allow the girls to whoop his ass instead.

_Although I'm pretty sure they did a better job of it than I ever could have._

Max had always preferred to keep things leisurely and light-hearted. That's what he'd done almost every other time he'd been confronted with bad news or word of injustices. But actually being there for the incident had changed his outlook entirely. It was a bit weird, even scary how the persona of a self-righteous guy overtook him so easily.

Sighing, he closed his locker and prepared to head to his usual lunch table with the guys and get his head cleared with some hopefully banal guy talk. As it happened, they came up from his sides, apparently having taken their time getting out of gym.

"Hey, man. Y'allright?" Ciro asked.

"Not too bad, all things considered." Max replied.

"Christ, she nailed ya good." Dai observed, noticing the lovely bruise forming on Max's face.

_Did she now?_

"Yeah, I guess. Eh, I'll live."

"Wait, didn't she hit you on the right side of the face?" Joe asked, pointing at Max's left-sided bruise. Max briefly froze.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck!_

"Well, obviously not." He quickly dismissed that notion. "C'mon." He whirled around with intention to head to the cafeteria and forgetting the subject as soon as possible, but was promptly halted when Kina appeared in front of him.

"AAAAH!" Max yelped.

"Hey." She said. "Um, Max, right?"

"Y-yeah." He confirmed nervously. She, of all people, would know where she hit him, and if she saw the bruise was on the wrong side of the face…

"Oh, my God." She lamented, cringing as she saw his cheek. Max had a flash of panic. "I am, like, so sorry about that."

"Oh!" Max reacted, pleasantly surprised that she didn't seem to notice. "No prob. Yeah, no problem at all." Just in case she would eventually catch on, though, he thought it best to inch away as quick as possible.

"Hey, relax. I'm here to apologize." She approached him with her arms raised in a non-threatening gesture. "Really, I'm sorry."

"I said it's no problem." He rattled off quickly. "Hey, I'd be pissed off too if that had been my friend. Well, even if it hadn't been my friend. I…I am pissed off. You know, common human courtesy. And all that." He paused and coughed. "Uh…how is she?"

"Oh. She's…being interviewed by some cops. I guess she'd going to be okay. And they're interviewing me later too."

"Why? What'd you do?"

"Me and Yoshi found the prick, and well…let's just say that he'll be testifying in court with a toothless mouth."

"Oh." Max had to pretend to be surprised, as his story was that he hadn't been there to witness their vengeance. "Um…good for you."

"I'm sure. So, no hard feelings?"

"No, just, some slightly sore ones." He smiled at her, just before the lameless of his remark registered in his own mind.

_Ba-dum-DUM. Idiot. _To his surprise, though, she actually giggled.

"Hey, you…you got some moves too, huh? You train?"

"Oh, well, just casually. Some Kung Fu. Nothing hardcore or anything." He tried to shrug it off.

"Not hardcore? You were defending yourself against two people at once!"

"Uh…yeah."

"Listen, anyways, I really feel bad about what I did, so, I was thinking…maybe I could, I guess, take you out or something?"

"Huh?" He grunted, wondering what context she'd meant that in.

"You know…movie? Dinner? Tomorrow night. My treat?" His eyes widened in clear surprise over this offer.

"Oh. Well, I guess I…um, I…actuallymmMMMPHH!" Before he had the chance to reply, a hand from behind clamped down over his mouth, and several other arms wrapped around his as he was dragged back several feet.

"S'cuse us just one second." Joe said. After being taken roughly out of earshot, the guys released their hold on Max and huddled around him like a football team.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing!" Dai growled at him. "Say yes! Don't studder like some fucking gimp!"

"Woah, hey! What's the deal? I'm busy with…"

"Whatever the hell you're doing tomorrow night, drop it!" Kato hissed at him.

"Dude, in case it isn't obvious, in which case I should let you know that it is…" Joe carefully slowed his voice down. "That…is…a…frigging…cheerleader asking you out. And offering to pay for it!"

"She's just doing it out of remorse." Max rationalized.

"Who cares! Do you have any idea what a phenomenal opportunity that is? I'd kill for that chance!" Dai growled in frustration at his friend's density.

"I swear to God, if you pass this up, I will just NOT stop kicking you ass. Now GO!" Before max could argue anew, he was collectively shoved forth and stumbled right back in front of Kina.

"Uh…" He briefly stammered, looking between her and back at his buddies, who gave him a series of wide smiles and thumbs up. "I'd…yeah, sure, I'd love to."

"Okay, great." She smiled at him. "So, tomorrow at seven at the Omni multiplex?"

"Sure thing." He replied, loosing up some.

"All right then. I should get back to the principal's office. I guess I'm in trouble for getting bloodstains on the parking lot."

"Well, it needed a new paintjob anyways." Once again, Max cursed himself in his mind.

_IDIOT!_ Luckily, she giggled again as she went off. Seconds later he was flanked by his friends and subjugated to several slaps on the back.

"My MAN!" Kato congratulated him. "Way to go!"

"Oh, yeah, I was real smooth." Max sarcastically commented. "I finally got a date, and all it took was some physical violence and two spoonfuls of pity."

"Max, Max, Max…that was not pity. Well, not completely anyways. See, you totally impressed her with that karate shit you did." Joe confirmed. "You got her hot for you!"

"Besides, it's 'bout time you started hanging with some other girl than your grandma and that weirdo." Dai maintained, making an obvious reference to Al.

"Probably, I 'spose." Max considered.

"Suppose nothing! C'mon, who's the man, Max? Eh?" Ciro goaded him. Max sighed.

_Shit, okay, I got a date with a cheerleader! Fuck, it's not like I simultaneously discovered a cure for cancer and AIDS._

"I guess I am." He groaned.

"Right." Ciro put his arm around Max's shoulders. "And, being the man, you will be sure to casually mention what awesome friends you have, so that she can pass the info on to her fellow cheerleaders, right?" Max glared at him.

_Ah. Of course._

* * *

Despite the excitement that had occurred during 3rd period, and some rampant rumors that were quickly spread amongst the local student populace, the rest of the day had gone by quite nicely. The more he thought about it, the more he was looking foreword to going out tomorrow. And that gave him something positive to focus his thoughts on while not paying attention during math or history classes. Neither subject suited him very well, nor were part of his "Top Five" list. 

Luckily, his last period of the day was the #1 on his list…

**1: THEATRE!**

"Why Sir Gregory!" The actor playing Count Worthington shrilled with a pompous British accent. "What is the meaning of this? Have you no shame!"

"Indeed I do, good sir." Max, playing sir Gregory with what he hoped came off as a more realistic English accent, replied. "Only I appear to have left it in your mother's chemisette."

"Higurashi!" The drama teacher shouted over the giggling students. "If you don't start sticking to the script, I swear to God…"

**End Chapter 3**

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Anyone remotely similar with the Inuyasha series has probably picked up on a few of the hints I've dropped about Max. Just so you know, the characters are supposed to be making their own independent assumptions, based on the knowledge they, as individuals and their respective experiences, have. Not on the universal knowledge we as fans and observer have. They're going to have to figure things out on their own, when the time comes. 

But, oh, don't go thinking that you, as the observer, have everything figured out either. I've got a good number of surprises up my filthy little sleeve that will be sprung in time. But you can expect that to happen slooooowwwwwlllly.

I also really appreciate the advice I've been getting regarding the construction of this tale. Please, oh please, do keep advising me on how I can elevate the level of this story from shitty to just mildly turdy.

Gracias.


	4. Pity Date

General Disclaimer

I don't own the Inuyasha series, nor do I aim to make profit off this. And frankly, I doubt I could if I applied myself.

However, I do claim unofficial ownership over my original characters.

**Previous Chapter Illustration:**

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 20818124/**

**(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces)**

**That probably looks like it hurt more than it actually did. But I do so love drawing warped expressions, double takes, and the like. Poor Max.**

**Oh, and that's him in his illusionary human state. In case you were wondering what happened to the ears and facial markings. But in case you missed them:**

**BONUS:**

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 21111313/ **

**a Higurashi family shot, as they appear in this story. Grandpa probably doesn't look nearly as old as he should, but he is taking damn good care of himself, right? (I.E. Author/Artist sucks at drawing wrinkles.) Besides, my own Grandmother, in her 80's is still going jogging every morning with a brace surgically inserted into her shinbone.**

**Yeah, that's right. My Grandmother could totally kick your Grandmother's ass.**

**But I digress…**

**_Nikanaru _**

**Chapter 4: **

**Pity Date **

**Or**

**The Teen Gross-Out/Romance Phase of This Fanfiction…I Swear To God it Won't Happen Again.**

It was to be a very important, well-dressed occasion for Souta. He was making absolutely sure to look downright impeccable. Bathed, and scrubbed to the point of virtually giving himself a body-wide Indian burn. Hair combed and gelled to as much perfection as one who wasn't a professional hairstylist could manage. Single tuxedo, dry cleaned, pressed, and at the ready. Specialty cologne, one that he'd picked as his regular one after years of experimenting with many types, depending on female reaction to it. Everything was ready. Everything was perfectly planned.

Everything except annoying relatives buzzing his apartment.

"Yello?" He cautiously answered over the speaker.

"_Uncle Souta!_" Came the somewhat electronically distorted voice. Souta grimaced. Despite the distortion, he could tell that the voice belonged to Max.

Also, because no one else ever called him "Uncle." At least not since his days putting fellow fifth-graders in submission holds.

Under any other circumstances, Souta would be delighted to have Max over, but things were tight. He had just finished a phone-in interview with a reporter from _Cleats_ Magazine, and was scheduled to be at the Ritz in forty-five minutes.

"Uh, Max…" He called over the speaker, hoping not to sound like an asshole. "…I've got to head out in like, five minutes. Can you come back tomorrow or something?"

"_I just really need to borrow some clothes. I won't be two minutes, I swear!_" Came the distorted plea. Souta sighed and hit the button to open the lobby door. While waiting for his nephew to climb all 4 stories, he took another moment to brush his teeth. They've had these sickly stains of pale yellow here and there which, for the life of him, he couldn't seem to get rid of. A fifth try couldn't hurt, though.

Spitting out the foam just as a knock to the tune of "Shave and a haircut" was heard at his front door, Souta headed over and opened up. A somewhat overeager Max stepped in.

"Okay, Squirt, what do you need?" Souta quickly asked.

"I, uh, wanted to borrow one of your sports jackets." Max replied. Souta couldn't imagine what on earth Max would need with one of those, but eager to have him out of his hair as soon as possible, he simply went into his closet, grabbed a nice enough-looking brown one and tossed it to Max. After trying it on for size, Max smiled in approval.

"Thanks a lot." He beamed with a thumbs up. "I'll bring it back tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Sure, sure." Souta approved, waving him off. And Max did indeed dart off out the door, appearing to be in just as great a hurry as Souta. Against his better judgment, this intrigued Souta, and caused him to poke his head out of the hallway door to ask, "Hey, what did you need that for?"

"A date." Max called back at him as he descended the staircase. This left a wide eyed Souta with only an empty hallway to stare blankly into in stupor.

That seemed to happen an awful lot. Ironically, despite being the youngest blood member of the Higurashi family, and despite having idolized Inuyasha back when he was a kid, it was Souta who always approached every new situation concerning his adopted demon nephew with caution. When his mother had decided to take Max in, it had been Souta who had raised some slight objections, fearing that a demon child might not be tamable. It was he who had raised slight objections about Max going out in public and to school, fearing Max's lack of social skills and potential control over his strength. It was he who had raised objections about Max going to family reunions, fearing that no one would buy the "Long lost relative" excuse. Thankfully, he had been wrong on all counts, as Max had not only been an excellently behaved child, (with a few notable exceptions) he had developed social skills quite splendidly, learned expertly to conceal his true form…

…and their extended family, as it turned out, were idiots.

But once again, Souta found himself wanting to object to Max actually going out on a bonna fide date. What if…what if…

…well, what if what? As he reflected on it, he didn't really have a good reason to object to this. Primarily, he'd feared that Max being overly intimate with anyone would lead that person to discover Max's demonic physique. An example off the top of his head was that if Max were French kissing anyone, the tongue of whichever girl it was might brush up against his fangs. But frankly, Souta doubted that they'd go that far on the first date.

But beyond that, Souta knew that Max had enough common sense to know what to and what not to do in a given situation. He'd kept his true appearance a secret all these years, and wasn't about to blow it all just because he was with some girl.

Yes, despite the fact that Souta had an ever-nagging feeling that something might go wrong, he decided to ignore it. Max should go on his date, end of story.

Snapping out of his refection, Souta looked up at the clock and muttered an obscenity when he realized that he was going to be late for his.

* * *

**One Hour Ago**

_I can't believe I listened to them._

_I can't believe I actually tried this. _

_I can't believe I even considered trying. _

_I can't believe I even took my fucking pants off! _This stream of thought repeated itself for what was probably the ninth or tenth time since he entered the locked bathroom, as pantless as he claimed. Before leaving school today, Kato, Ciro, Dai and Joe had once again accosted Max about his forthcoming date. Evidently, they believed that the success of this romantic excursion would likely make the upperclass girls reflect well on Max and his clique, and it was therefore their invested interest to see to it that things went well. Consequently, the four of them had showered him with "advice" which, now in retrospect, led him to believe that they all had no clue what the fuck they were talking about.

And one amongst those pearls of wisdom had been the suggestion that Max…masturbate before going out, so that he could presumably empty all the horny out of his system and not get any on his date. Something about appearing like less of the sex-starved teenager that you actually are by depleting your sexual energies beforehand.

_I'm pretty sure that's not even how it works._

Max had wanked in the past…hell, since he'd been about fourteen…maybe not as much as the average person. He figured his average to be about once every three days, a guesstimate that had come up during that one time he and his friends were comparing personal stats, and Max had come out with the second-lowest figure, ahead of Ciro. (The story behind how that conversation ever even came up is long and winded.)

But this kind of self-service had always been so casual, so free flowing those other times. Now imposed with a deadline, and schedule, a purpose… all this serious business rather killed the mood. For the past few fifteen minutes, Max had peen poking himself, unable to rouse much enthusiasm in his wang.

_Come on, buddy. We've done this before. You know the routine: You spend all day in your Fruit-of-the-Loom prison cell, my hand comes in for a conjugal visit, you stand up for a full salute and use up all the energy you don't spend laying around flaccid, we both go home happy._ Sweet-talking it didn't seem to do any good. This was just awkward. _The fuck do you want? Dinner and a movie? I already make sure you've got quality underwear rubbing up against you. No chafing or any of that shit!_

A knock on the door interrupted Max's telepathic conversation with his penis.

"Max?" Grandmother's voice. Jeans are hiked up so fast he practically gives his legs denim-burn.

"Yeah?" He manages without sounding either as flustered or guilty as he was.

"You've been in there an awful long time, and I haven't heard a flush or anything yet. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fi…you keep track of how many times I flush?"

"I'm just saying. And I need one of my pills from the medicine cabinet. Are you going to be much longer? Nothing's wrong?"

_Well, I might have been impotent before, but I sure as hell am now._ Aborting his plans for self-gratification as fast as anyone else would when their grandmother comes into the equation, Max dejectedly opened the door.

"I'm fine, yeah. I should actually get going now, though."

"Okay, sweetie. Have fun."

* * *

**Present**

"Hey! You're early." Kina said, as she spotted Max through the crowd at the theatre lobby.

"Yeah, there wasn't as much on my to-do list as I thought." He replied as he waltzed up to her, trying to look casual despite proudly wearing of a fancy looking, several-hundred-dollar sports jacket. Max wasn't exactly a fashion freak, as he was otherwise wearing a red t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, but felt that one semi-formal article of clothing would show that he had at least some interest in dressing up for this occasion. "So, how's Reya doing?"

"A lot better now." She smiled devilishly. "As it turns out, kicking the shit out of Yamaro cheered her up a hell of a lot. Me and the girls spent the day with her, and she seems to be in way better spirits."

"I heard you got suspended." Max queried with a sympathetic tone in his voice.

"Me and Yoshi did, yeah. But we didn't get any charges pressed against us. We didn't even get kicked off the squad." She pleasantly chimed. "Besides, midterm week just ended, so it's not like we're missing much."

"All in all, a relatively happy ending." He smiled.

"Well, it could have been a hell of a lot worse." She guessed. Sighing, she also added: "Of course, it would've been a hell of a lot better if that fuckstick hadn't laid his hands of Reya in the first place." A pause was pregnant in the air as the two reflected on the seriousness of that incident, as if mourning it to give it its proper respects. "Well…I did all I could, I guess. And a little more. Anyways, how's your face?"

"Oh." Max said, rubbing his hand against his cheek. "Still sore, but the bruise is almost gone."

Max had had to deck himself again right before he came.

"So!" She perked up, livening the mood a little. "What'dya wanna see? _Casual Armageddon?_" The albino-like eyebrows on Max's face raised at that suggestion.

_Huh! Doesn't she know what kind of flick that is?_

"Uh…" He reluctantly began. "…I'm not sure that's your kind of movie."

"Why? I saw it last week and I loved it. I'd see it again."

"You did?" Surprised, he had to also admit. "Er…actually I saw it too."

"Oh yeah? What was your favorite part?"

"Uh…I guess when that bad guy was trapped in the rotating chair, and Jet just held on to his head until snapped completely around." He related somewhat shyly.

"Oh yeah! Mine was when the big boss was attacking Jet with a wrecking ball, and then he had a flashback about his father training him, and then caught the ball and threw it right back at the boss!" This was VERY weird. He was used to discussing movies of this nature with his friends, but he never expected a potential romantic interest to share his love of exceptionally violent action flicks.

This is either a sign that I've found my soulmate, or that I need to start running for my life.

"Well, okay…how about…" Wanting to further see if they had more coinciding movie genre likes, he scanned the listings for a film that was a good example of it. "…uh…_Loyd of the Rings: The Fellowship of Yo Mamma_?" Her face seemed to brighten at that suggestion.

"Yeah! I've been wanting to see a new Zucker movie for a long time."

"Really?" Max could barely believe his invisible pointy ears.

"Sure. Why, were you testing me?" She asked, her eyebrows raising in suspicion.

"No, it's just…" He started to scramble for the right words, not wanting to fuck things up. Laghaminute films, Zucker's specialty, had been largely considered a bane on modern cinema in recent years due to embarrassing efforts by untalented filmmakers since 2009 to copy the style. Confessing that you still liked those types of movies was like confessing that you actually liked Michael Bolton. "…I just never expected to meet another Laughaminute fan. At least not one who was willing to admit it out loud."

"Ugh. I know. Abrahams, Zucker and Brooks perfected it, and then those pricks who made all those _Stupid Genre Sendup _movies totally ruined it for everyone!"

"I know! What's the deal? I mean people don't stop watching teen romance movies even though half of them are total shit!"

"Seriously. Last week, I had to go see some shitfest with my little sister. Have you ever noticed the way, in half of these movies, there's some cliché scene where the guy and the girl turn out to have a lot in common after all? And they're like, totally surprised?"

"Yeah. Christ, writers need to come up with something original." They both paused a moment before looking over to the ticket counter.

"Well, the next showing's in five minutes. Wanna make a run for it?" He suggested.

"Why not?" She smiled back at him as they both approached the booth.

* * *

**Ten Years Ago**

"…near the end of the dyamo's legacy, a monk of great virtue and spirit came to the castle…"

"Great Grandpa?"

"…offering to ward away the evil spirits that were possessing the poor hime. The daimyo was only all too pleased…"

"Great Granpa?"

"…to offer the monk his treasures for those services, but being a servant of Buddha, the monk valiantly…"

"Great Grandpa!" Max repeated, just a little louder. The old man finally looked away from his tome to the young child laying in his bed.

"What the matter?" Grandpa asked.

"You've read that story before." Max fussed. Granpa blinked at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. That's the legend where the good monk refuses the daimio's daughter's hand in marriage. And then later some delinquent monk comes along and tries to get her to have her children." Max recited. Grandpa, surprised, sheepishly flipped through the pages of the tome he was reading.

"Um…Alright, how about the Legend of the Oni Matsuroko?"

"Heard it."

"The Story of the Seven Mako Spirits?"

"Heard it. Twice."

"Uh…The Legend of…Zorro?"

"…Great Greandpa..." An annoyed groan signaled that the old man had nothing.

Grandpa closed the tome in defeat. Since Max had been old enough to have bedtime stories read to him, Grandpa regaled him with all the mythic tales and legends that he, in his years as a shrine priest, had known, just like he used to do for his daughter and two grandchildren. And quite unlike any of them, Max seemed genuinely enthralled with those stories. Enough to actually notice when one of his tales was a repeat. Grandpa wondered briefly how he could have repeated stories with Max when he was so young and not his other relatives…then realized that he must have, only they'd never paid any attention in the first place and wouldn't have noticed.

"So you've heard every legend this old man's got to pass on to the next generation then, huh?" Grandpa mused somewhat depressingly. A moment passed before Max spoke up.

"What about the well?" Grandpa instantly stiffened.

"W…what well?" He stumbled.

"The one out in the courtyard. The one Grandma won't let me go near." He stated. "You've never told me any legends about that one."

"Oh! Uh…" Grandpa scrambled his brain, trying to think fast. Unfortunately, he had a horrible track record to live up to when it came to improvising plausible excuses. As proven by the fact that he had once called his granddaughter's high school and explained that one of her prolonged absences was due to AIDS. "It's…just a regular well. Nothing special about it." He wondered if that would pass.

"Then why won't Grandma let me go near it?"

"It's…uh…well, you see…"

* * *

**The Next Morning**

"Hey, Grandma?" Max asked between chews of his pancakes at the breakfast table.

"Yes, dear?" She replied as she flipped more on the stove.

"If the well out back is infested with AIDS, then shouldn't we call in a biohazard crew or something instead of just leaving it there?" A pancake, which was in mid flip before Max had opened his mouth, made a lovely splattering sound as it missed the pan and landed on the tile floor.

"DAD!"

* * *

**Moments Later**

"Max…" Sakura began, now having seated herself, Max and Grandpa in the living room for what appeared to be a serious talk. "…about that well."

"Why are we keeping AIDS in there? Are we secretly terrorists?" Max asked with a worried expression.

"What? No!" Sakura flapped, glaring at her father. "We don't have AIDS, or any diseases whatsoever in there!"

"Oh. Then why…?"

"You're Great Grandfather was just being silly." She answered before he could finish.

"Uh…okay." He replied. "Then why can't I go near it?" Max watched as both Sakura and his great grandpa exchanged worried expressions before returning their attention to Max. They both knew this conversation was bound to come along at some point, and frankly, they were quite surprised it hadn't earlier. That was fine by them, of course, as they would have rather not discussed it at all, but they couldn't keep Max in the dark either. He had to know sometime.

"Max…" Grandpa began carefully. "Have we ever told you about…Kagome?"

"Kagome?" Max repeated. The name did strike a chord in his mind. He'd heard it a few times before, but never paid it much mind. "I don't think so. Why?"

"She was…" Sakura began, her eyes closed solemnly as she spoke "…IS my daughter. And your uncle Souta's sister."

"Oh." Max stated.

"She also…may be your mother." Grandpa added.

"IS your mother." Sakura sharply corrected.

"My…mother?" Max wondered. Now in the waning days of his innocence, Max had begun to wonder about why other kids at school had "mothers" and he didn't. For a time, he just assumed he did, only his was instead called "Grandma," as if a different version of the same thing. It had also occurred to him that he didn't look a thing like any of his "family", so he just assumed that he was multicultural, like Al. He'd seen her mother and the two looked totally different. "So I have a mother, too?"

"Well, of course you do, kiddo. Where do you think you came from?" Grandpa asked him. Max could only stare blankly in response.

_Where did I come from? I'm only six! I don't think about these things! Ask me about my tax deductibles and geo-politics while you're at it, why don'tcha?_

"Uh…the…stork?" He tried uncertainly. Sakura threw Grandpa another glare. On top of this discussion, they didn't want to have to talk about the birds and the bees.

"Never mind that." Sakura dismissed that direction of conversation. "We're going to tell you about your mother…and your father. It's going to be a little hard, because truthfully, we don't know all the details. But we'll do our best."

The story of Kagome Higurashi, to the best knowledge of her family, was related to Max over the next couple of hours.

* * *

**Weeks Later**

Max stood a few yards away from the Bone-Eater's Well. What he'd learned a few weeks ago had been almost unbelievable, even by the standards of an imaginative six-year old. His grandmother and great grandfather had told him all about how their daughter once fell through this well to another time period; a time when demons and mythological forces were rampant. They told him about how she came back and forth through the well with the person they claimed was his father, a dog demon named Inuyasha. They told him how no one besides those two could seem to use the well, making it impossible for them to tell him personally what the other side of the well was like. And they told him that that was why they could never go find her when she one day went through the well and just never came back.

And this was where he was found. They'd just discovered him in there, at the bottom of the well, the same entranceway that Kagome and Inuyasha had used to disappear in between the centuries. Max had been purposefully sent here by someone.

Sakura and Grandpa had assured Max, had made absolutely sure that he understood how much they loved and cared for him, no matter where he came from, nor if he wasn't human.

Above all, though, they had made certain that he understood why he couldn't go near the well. As near as any of them could understand the properties of it, only certain people could use it. No one was certain what the criteria was, but it was a fair bet nevertheless that Max would be able to pass through. After all, he had come through it once as a child; it stood to reason that he might be able to do it again. They would have had the well demolished altogether if they still weren't clinging to a faint hope that Kagome might someday come back through, too.

And on the other side of the well was, at this point, God-Knows-What. History books might be able to suggest something about what was going on there, but official history also never motioned anything about demons and the occult in the Feudal times. If Max went through, there was no telling if something might prevent him from getting back, or just kill him outright.

He had been unusually quiet these last few weeks, these revelations going through his mind almost every minute of every day. For the first couple of days after Sakura had made it clear with him the dangers of the well, he did exactly as he was told and steered clear of it, sometimes even running whenever he had to go past it. But now, every time he came home from school, he'd find himself just staring at the well house as though it were some enigmatic entity that held the answers to the questions he now found himself with. Sakura had told him that she firmly believed that her daughter was still alive on the other side of the well, but something was preventing her from coming back. Several times while relating this to Max, Sakura had broken into tears. Even Grandpa had shed a few salty drops from his baggy eyes remembering the wonderful girl who had been so suddenly and so mysteriously taken from them.

_But I could go find her._

Yes, that was what young Max had been thinking to himself over and over again these past days. Beyond that well was someone very important to his family, someone they missed painfully. But they couldn't do a thing to save her because the well wouldn't let them pass. Max, on the other hand, could. He could go find her and bring her back home. Then they'd be a whole family again. Then Grandma and Great Grandpa wouldn't have to cry anymore. And Max would have a mother.

_A mother?_

It was weird. He'd never felt like there were any particular holes in his life, as he was pretty content with what he had. He didn't feel a need to have a mother, or a father. Grandma, Great Grandpa, and Uncle Souta had always given him everything he ever needed. So, then, shouldn't he give something back? He loved them very much, and wanted nothing more than to see them happy. Grandma had taken him in principally because she'd believed that it was Kagome who'd sent Max here, and that it had been her intention for Sakura to take care of him. But knowing Grandma, she'd have taken him in even if she'd known that wasn't true. She was a wonderful person; a sweet, kind woman who deserved all the happiness in the world, and Max wanted nothing more than to see a smile on her face.

So once again he found himself staring at the well-house, pondering.

_Maybe I should…? No, I shouldn't… Grandma said not to, but…_But if he could do something, even at a risk to himself, to make them happy, then shouldn't he?

Bravely, Max found himself approaching the well. It had since years been padlocked, with a sign marked _Danger: Off Limits_ for any tourists. Reluctantly passing his little hands over the crusty wooden frame of the door, he carefully looked it over. It didn't seem at all impressive.

_I'll…I'll just see what it looks like on the inside._ He reasoned with himself as he grasped the padlock. Yanking on it experimentally, he yelped in shock when the wood the lock was attached to came cracking off. He quickly looked around him to make sure no one was watching, and then carefully placed the lock on the ground. As the door creaked open, the rank of old wood and dust came whooshing out, forcing the child to pull his shirt collar over his sensitive nose.

It was dark inside, but Max had exceptional eyesight and was able to see easily the contents within. Cobwebs were practically everywhere, as if an arachnid metropolis had been developed over the years in this shed. There were a few tools scattered here and there on benches, and an unlit chandelier at the top of the room. But most notably of all was the wooden well in the center of the structure.

Daring to step down the stairs leading to said well, Max slowly and carefully maneuvered around various cobwebs, stepping cautiously so as to not creak the wooden steps. At last, he placed his hands on the rim of the well and, with a quick breath, pulled himself up to look down it.

Disappointingly, the inside appeared to be nothing but four wooden walls going several meters down to a dirt floor.

_THIS is the great time portal?_ He wondered, expecting something a little more…grand. Staring down into the darkness, uncertainty clouded his resolve. He wanted to jump down it. Wanted to travel to this magical era that his mother was supposedly in. Wanted to see the sights and sounds of mystical energies, meet other demons. But he also knew he wouldn't dare do that if it meant leaving his family. If only he could know for certain he could come back…

His wishy-washiness on the issue, however, was irrelevant, as some wet mold which had developed on the unmaintained rim, made it for him. His hand slipping suddenly forth, Max screeched in surprise as his whole form went tumbling into the depths. His heart did a few jumps as he felt the air rushing around him, suddenly worried to death that the portal would open up and swallow him in.

But all he did was unleash a painful grunt as his body slammed into hard dirt.

Wincing, rubbing his head and looking up, Max only saw the roof of the well house. Nothing had happened. The well would not open up for him.

He wasn't entirely sure whether or not he was disappointed. He did want to try and be a hero, want to try ad make everything right. But another part of him never wanted to leave this place for the sake of anything. He was happy here. He didn't ever want to leave.

Clawing his way out of the well, Max quickly darted outside and closed the doors. That just left the dilemma of the broken lock. Not really knowing that much about carpentry or furnishing, Max just pretty much tried to jam it back into place really hard. When that seemed to more or less succeed, he concluded that it might someday fall back off if someone fooled with it. And then they'd get the blame, not him.

_I really hope so, at least._ He concluded as he headed back towards the house.

* * *

**Present**

"I have to say, that did suck an awful lot of balls." Max dejectedly stated as he and Kina exited theatre 9.

"Yeah. God, why anybody do those movies RIGHT anymore?" She concurred. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for? We both wanted to see it. We're both equally at fault here."

"I guess, but I really wanted to do something fun. You're a really nice guy, y'know? I wanted to make it up to you."

"Oh, for…forget that! It's not like I'm some whiny little bitch who needs comfort just cause a girl beat him up."

"Really? So you're perfectly comfortable with your masculinity?" She grinned dubiously at him.

"Um…yes?" That came out sounding about as sure as the weather.

"Well, if that's the case, then I've got an idea!" Her arm hooked around his, as she led him out of the theatre and down the streets.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Where are we going?"

"Unadulterated fun, if you can put your pride and shame aside for a few moments." Came her cackling reply.

_Oh shit._ Cringing in surrender, Max permitted himself to be dragged helplessly down several streets and avenues until finally they ended up at a local arcade.

"Videogames?" That was a bit anticlimactic for what supposed heinousness she'd been hinting at. "Uh…sure." She just laughed and shook her head from side to side.

"This place is actually where I took up dancing. C'mon."

"Uh…what?" That made NO sense as near as Max's mid could manage. "You went dancing in…" However, it quickly became clear when he was brought before one particular machine, causing him to trail off in utter horrification.

_Oh, Jesus H. Christ, NO._

Before him it stood, blinking, flashing, roaring…a machine that had revolutionized the gaming industry decades ago by making gaming not only fun, but physically active. As a maddeningly unfortunate side-effect, the once obese and placid gamers were whipped into relatively healthy shape and are still alive nowadays, rather than alone at home, their fat asses on their couches, suffering massive heart attacks as they rightfully should just before their cats begin to eat at their corpses.

"Dance Dance Evolution?.?" Those six syllables were all expulsed from his mouth like most people expulse phlegm. "Please tell me you're fucking with me. Seriously, tell me right now."

"Oh, come on!" Despite that he had both heels firmly digging on the tiled floor of the arcade, she seemed to have no problem dragging him over to the machine. "I know it weird at first, but trust me, it's fun!"

"The only way you will get me on that thing is at gunpoint." He growled. "And even then, it would still depend on what part of my body you're aiming at."

"Oh, give me a break." She gave him light punch in the shoulder. "You're telling me you still watch laughaminute movies even when everyone else makes fun of you for it, but you're got too much pride to get on this thing?"

"You can't draw a parallel between those!" He argued. "Those movies once had their glory days. This was always lame!"

"For your information, dancing on this thing was what got me started on the path to cheerleading." She haughtily informed him.

_Then Jack Campbell must be doing 360's in his grave._

"Point is, if it wasn't for this machine, you wouldn't be here on a date with…" She paused a moment to give him a wry smile. "…How did your friend put it? 'A frigging cheerleader'?" Although there were bright lights flashing all over the arcade room, the red that tinted Max's visage right then stood out quite noticeably.

"You heard…I mean…I didn't…" Stumbling over his words much like a person with a broken leg stumbles over a rocky path, Kina just couldn't help but extend her grin further.

"Don't worry, I'm not putting you in the same category as those morons." She assured him. "Still, the fact nevertheless remains that you owe that machine for this dating someone this hot."

_Glad to see she's got no self-esteem problems._

"So pay your homage by giving it a shot!" With barely any other chance to protest, Max was literally shoved onto the dance pad. Immediately turning around to face the crowd now gathered around the machine, stage fright began to set in. With a whimper of frustration, he looked down dubiously over the dance pad.

The game had advanced considerably since its origins as _Revolution._ The former four-way dance pad had expanded by several squares. Now the game was not so much a dance stepping exercise as it was a desperate game of synchronized _Twister_.

The jingle of the token going into to machine signaled his doom. Looking over to the other side of the machine, Kina got on the other pad.

"Oh, relax, for God's sake. I'll do it with you." That did offer him some mild comfort, but not nearly as much as he needed to prevent himself from gulping in utter loathing as to what was about to happen while she selected the song and difficulty level. A digital voice from the machine's speakers demanded obnoxiously:

"**READY**?"

_Fuck you, asschunk._

The beat of a techno mix boomed throughout the arcade as Max hesitantly set his foot down on the specific square the screen indicated him to.

* * *

**30 Minutes Later**

Cheering crowds roared on as the beads of sweat flew off his now-shiny forehead. His legs danced to and fro in an almost impossible but God-Damned-Determined attempt to keep up with the beat on the maximum difficulty level.

When finally the song hit its final note, Max polished off his last step with an obligatory disco pose, his one hand pointing high into the sky. Plastered over both screens were the scores of himself and Kina's, his score a scant 50 points under hers.

_Dammit!_

"Ho-oly crap." She panted out as she leaned over the handrail. "Almost got me that time."

"C'mon. Again." He heaved back.

"Out of tokens." She grinned at him. Max glared at her, dubiousness laden throughout his eyes.

_Bullshit. You know I'll own you next time._

"So?" She said as she descended the machine, making way for the next set of would-be dancers.

"So what?" Was his oblivious reply.

"You sure as hell picked that up fast."

"Yyyyeah." Trailing off, he nonchalantly looked off the side. "I guess it's not as hard as it looks."

"No, I've seen amateurs spend days on that machine and still fuck up. You've got some natural talent, there."

"Maybe."

"And If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were having fun."

"No!" He instantly was on the defensive. "I'm…I'm just competitive."

"Oh, come on. You weren't being competitive with all those added moves."

"What 'added moves'?"

"Uh…this?" She emulated perfectly his John Travolta-esque disco pose. "Not unless you seriously though that was going to score you extra points." Desperation was emerging in Max's desire to save face.

"It doesn't? Guess I've been severely misinformed." That earned him another punch in the shoulder.

"Hold tight. I'll be right back." She turned around and pushed past the crowd. Stretching his neck a bit over the crowd to see where she was going, he saw her head into the bathrooms. Now Max was really ashamed.

_She was jumping around with a full bladder and she still beat me? Jesus. _Biting his lower lip as he saw the door to the ladies room shut after her, he turned to face the rest of the arcade dwellers, now focusing their efforts of cheering on the latest duo on the DDE machine. Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned against the vending machine near the front door, welcoming the cool breeze from outside that refreshed his sweat-tickled forehead.

"Nice moves." Came a female voice. A compliment from an anonymous female would ordinarily be welcomed by Max if not for two things:

1: He was already on a "date" at the moment; so flirting around with other chicks would be in very poor taste.

2: The female wasn't anonymous at all. He knew that voice all too well.

"Thanks." Came his dry reply as he slowly turned to face Al. "What're you doing here?" An arcade was one of the last places he would have expected to find Al. A noisy place where immature teens go to get their dose of brain-melting, insipid entertainment? No, she tended to avoid places like that like Superman would avoid the annual Kryptonite Festival.

"Well, I was walking by, when I saw some jackass bouncing around on that machine like he was having a violent seizure." That was about as funny as Al ever tried to be, and obviously with a crackingly dry tone.

"Well, it's just my luck that thing requires no actual dancing talent." He shrugged.

"Figures. I could have sworn I heard those mouth-breathers you hang around with snickering about you having a date."

"If you're going to make a comment about the whole gym incident, forget it. I know the premise of this arrangement is fucked up, but I happen to be having fun."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yeah. And for the record, quit ragging on her for being a cheerleader. She's deep."

"Really."

"Really."

Pause.

"She likes the same stupid crap you do, huh?"

"A-yup."

"Funny, though. I could have also sworn you once told me that those dancing arcade games were just a new way for nerds to make others suffer while they make asses of themselves."

"Were those my exact words?"

"More or less."

"Well, I stand corrected. As it happens, it was fun."

"Too bad. The fact that we both thought that thing was stupid was one of the few things we had in common."

"Well, maybe I'm tired of sitting around, bitching at the world. Maybe the world isn't so bad if you were to make, God forbid, an actual attempt to LIVE in it."

"I'm sure it would be. Especially seeing as how we have the actual ability to chose in which fun, cushy, rich nations we want to live in." A strange thing then happened when Max's mouth opened up and nothing came out, besides a little bit of CO2. Not that he didn't have a ready reply, just that he became acutely aware of Kina appearing behind him. Suddenly smelling her over the zillions of other scents gave him a point five second warning before she actually spoke to him.

"Who's this?" Kina inquired.

"Oh, this is…uh, Al." He half-heartedly introduced her.

"Alex." She half-heartedly corrected.

"Oh!" Kina exclaimed in realization. "Right! You're that girl from gym yesterday." Al only grunted in response. "Hey, thanks for telling us where Yamaro went off to hide."

"Sure." She shrugged. "It was nice to see you preppies get passionate about something other than football jocks or anorexia." An understandably awkward silence followed. The physical silence was in direct contrast to the fireworks of mental screaming that was now going on in Max's head.

_Oh, Jesus, she's going to ruin everything! Do something! Fix the tension! Do SOMETHING!_

"HA!" Max barked out, a little too suddenly and loudly, as it startled both the girls as well as all others in the nearby vicinity. More startling still was how his left arm suddenly and roughly wrapped itself around Al's shoulders, tugging her to his side in an overly friendly gesture. "Ain't she hilarious?" He rhetorically asked, peppering his act by giving her a quick noogie with his right hand. The generally heavy-lidded gaze of Al was now wide eyed in incredulousness…and some quickly growing fury. Observing the scene, a reluctant grin and chuckle emerged from Kina. Daring to look down at his victim, Max saw her glaring at him, her eyes blazing behind her glasses with a vengeful lust rivaling that of the bloodiest wars known to man.

"Let go of me, or die." Came her hissing, venomous threat.

"Okay, okay." His vocal cords continued their charade in an obscenely friendly tone. "I'll tell you what, though. I'm gonna walk Kina home, and I'll see ya Monday, okay?" Before Al could mutter any obscenities or threats his way, Max quickly secured his arm around Kina's and sped the two out the door, leaving Al with an undoubtedly great deal of anger and no where to direct it.

If Max had at all failed to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation, Kina didn't let on. Rather, she simply leaned into him a little as they headed down the street, Al quickly forgotten as Max blushed maybe just a little.

"So how is it that I've never seen you on one of the school's teams before?"

"Huh?"

"You're a pretty big guy. And you're obviously in good shape, from what I've seen." She motioned her head back to the arcade, where the DDE machine, probably still drenched in their sweat, was going off.

"Aw, well, I just like playing with my friends, usually. Besides, I can't commit to any big teams. I have to do a bunch of chores over at the shrine where I live since my great grandpa's getting too old, and my uncle Souta moved out." At the mention of that name, a bell went off in Kina's head. That, and her remembering what Max's family name was.

"Souta?" She suddenly came to a halt. "Wait, as in Souta Higurashi?"

"Uh…yeah."

"The guy who plays for the F.C. Tokyo team?"

"Y-y-es?" He cautiously repeated, unsure of where this was going.

"Oh my God! That's your uncle?.!" Her face was beaming with marvel at him now, looking as impressed as one might be if one met the third cousin twice removed of Jesus Christ. "That's amazing!"

"It's…pretty cool, yeah." He admitted.

"Well, God, you should totally join the soccer team, then. I mean, it's in your blood!" Inwardly, Max laughed. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was in his blood.

_But then again, neither can I._

"Eh. I like just playing for fun. I hate it when it gets to be all about scores, standings, and, y'know, just cutthroat."

"Really?" Her excitement died down, and suddenly she seemed a little embarrassed. "Heh. Sorry. I guess you must get that from people a lot."

"Well, not too much. Don't worry about it."

"Well, I actually can relate. My grandmother keeps pushing me to get into the ceramics business, since that's been in the family so long."

"And you don't want to?"

"Ugh. No. She can't seem to grasp the concept that I want to be a professional dancer. Every day, she all like 'How's that European 3-turn gonna help you make a decent ashtray?'" Grinning at her impression of an old lady's voice, the two continued on down the streets of the city, chatting away about other various topics of interest, ranging from sports to video games, to annoying movie stars. The night was coming to a close now, which was a downright shame. The moon was almost full, and it shone wonderfully over the clear, star filled sky, illuminating the city. It was often blocked out by several of the city's tall buildings, but the two now stood in an area where the moonlight shone radiantly. Gazing to her side at Max, Kina was really amazed with the way his platinum hair almost seemed to glow in the pale lunar illumination. She had to admit, he was cute. Maybe not definably hot, but easily something you could show off to your girlfriends. Plus, he was funny, nice, a great conversationalist, maybe a little weird, but still…

"…she's a total media whore! I can't believe she's gets a humanitarian award for singing a check worth less than one percent of her total earnings!"

"Uh…Max?" She said, squeezing his hand a little and stopping before the bridge they were about to go under. She wanted to talk to him while the moon still glowed handsomely over him.

"Mm-hm?"

"I really had a nice time tonight." She smiled at him.

_Hey. Is she…_

"I mean, I figured…well, I just felt I needed to do something for you after that whole mess yesterday."

"Oh, come on. That's way past us."

"Yeah, but still. I'm glad we did this. Really." By now, the gears in Max's head were whirling in motion, trying to interpret signals.

_Wait, what is this? Is she coming on to me? Or is she just boosting my ego before she tells me she just wants to be friends?_

"You're a lot of fun." Her grip on his hand tightened just a bit more as she closed the distance between their two bodies. "I'd…like to do this again sometime."

_HOT DIGGITY! _As good an actor as Max was, there was nothing he could do to disguise the goofy looking grin on his face, thus resulting in yet another chuckle from Kina.

"I'd…uh, like that too." He tried to keep his tone even in spite of his anxiety, and was, to his credit, mildly successful. Right now, he didn't seem like half the doofus he actually was. Still, she just stood there, smiling right at him. He was now wondering to himself what in the world he was supposed to do next.

_KISS HER, YOU MORON!_ A deep voice within his being screamed at him angrily. Ever-so-slowly, he began craning his neck down to meet her face. When he saw that there was no hesitation in her eyes, nor any interruptive attempt, he continued on.

_Should I close my eyes? People always close their eyes when they kiss…but what if I miss her lips? What if I accidentally kiss her nose or something? Okay, compromise: Keep eyes open until actual lip contact is made…but start closing them slowly before you get to that point. Yeah that should be about…_

_**SCREEEEEEEEECCCHHHHHH!**_

Though process, concerns about kissing, body contact, and pretty much everything else ended abruptly when an ear-splitting noise shrieked and echoed across the landscape. Pulling apart with both of their hearts feeling like they were about to pop out of their chests, Max and Kina span around to look up at the bridge just in time to see a screeching vehicle slam hard into the railing. So hard, in fact, that while the crash did bring the car to a halt, it did still manage to break almost halfway through the rail before it came to a complete stop.

"CHRIST!" From whence it was in an uncertain state, Max's mind snapped into instinctive action as he grabbed Kina and yanked her away from the bridge. They weren't too close to where the railing debris fell from where they were standing, but he wouldn't dare take any risks. Plus, they had no idea if the car was going to tip over the edge as well.

When they were a few meters back, they looked back up at the bridge to see that the car hadn't fallen, but was damn close…it was teetering over the edge, it's nose ever so slightly pointing downward, threatening to pull the rest of its weight with it. The next thing they noticed was the fact that the driver was out cold against the wheel, probably having been knocked unconscious during the impact. However, there were screams coming from inside the car, leading to the conclusion that there was at least one other passenger.

"Oh my God!" Muttered Kina as she stared up in horror at the scene. It was the same for Max, who had never seen a serious accident like this before. On the bridge, several cars stopped and their drivers got out to try and do something, but there were only a small number of them. There was no way they could pull that car back up if it started going down. And it did, as it jerked a bit more foreword, the concrete edge of the bridge giving away ever so slightly. A renewed scream of terror was heard from within.

Max only hesitated for a brief couple of seconds as he stared between the car, Kina, and himself. If instinct was in power right now, then every bit of it was now screaming for him to go up there and pull that car back onto the bridge before it was too late. However, logical thinking was reminding him about the fact that he wasn't sure if even HE was strong enough to do that. And doing so in front of a people, such as the onlookers on the bridge, Kina, and probably several others, would mean exposing his superhuman physical capabilities.

Torn. He couldn't think what he could do. Someone was going to die if he didn't do something, but doing anything meant doing something that would explicitly prove, in front of several eyewitnesses, that Max Higurashi could drag cars up over the edge of a bridge with his bare hands. Maybe no one on the bridge would recognize him, but Kina certainly would. That would lead to questions, investigations, and if the authorities ever got involved, a physical exam. And a physical exam could undeniably give Max away as something other than human. God only knows exactly what would happen after that, but it couldn't possibly be good for him, or his family.

But none of that reasoning changed the fact that there was something inside him screaming for him to save those people. He had the capacity to do something, so shouldn't he do it?

Then, like a snap, something came to him. Something that might just work. Looking over at Kina, he saw that she was giving the accident her undivided attention. That gave Max the opportunity he needed to silently jump several feet away, into a ditch. It wasn't exactly much cover, but it did the trick. Free of any remaining hesitation, he snapped the crystal necklace off of him, reverting him to his fully demonic appearance. Wasting not much more time, he took off his jacket, shoes and shirt with maddening speed.

* * *

**One Hour Later**

The night had gone almost perfectly. Seeing as how Souta was a regular at the restaurant, the staff had indulged in his special requests for the best table, violin music, and some fabulous champagne. He had every intention of wining and dining her to her utmost satisfaction. He had to get her in as good a mood as possible before this moment came. And he was certain that he had been successful. She was beaming, beautiful, everything he could have hoped. Everything had been perfect, and yet still he was insanely nervous on the inside. They'd had the dinner, they had the pleasant conversations, and now the critical moment was approaching. Part of him dreaded it, part of him was exited, and all of him was anxious. As she finished her lobster, Souta looked over at the bar behind her, where the bartender, wise to his plans, gave Souta an encouraging thumbs up. Souta nodded back at him. It was time.

"Asaki?" He said following a deep breath.

"Yes?"

"I…I love you." She grinned back at him.

"And I love you too."

"Good. I'm glad." He cleared his throat. "I, uh…never really thought I would be this happy with someone. I mean, I've had a lot of girlfrien…" he suddenly caught himself and cleared his throat again. "…that is, experiences with romance, and I always came up shorter than I was hoping. Honestly, I was losing hope before you came along."

"Souta what…?"

"Just, just hold on. You're something really special, Asaki. You're one in a million…hell, billion, and I do not ever want to lose you and never find you again in that massive sea of people out in the world. You do things for me I didn't even think were possible before I met you."

"Why are you…Souta?" By now, he had gathered every bit of confidence he needed. Without any fear, he went on.

"I want to spend the rest of my life you. I want you to be the mother of my children, and I want to be the father or yours. I want every bit of happiness out of life, and that means having you there by my side. And if you are there, Asaki, I will dedicate myself to your happiness as well." Asaki was staring at him wide eyed. Taking another deep breath, Souta reached into his jacket pocket, taking out a ring case. Instantly she gasped, her hands covering her mouth, tears beginning to form at the edges of her eyes. "Asaki," He said in an extremely clear, serious voice. "Will you do me the honor of being my…_**HOLY FUCK!.!.!.!"**_

The ring case was dropped out of his hands and into the tomato soup as Souta jumped out of his chair, scaring the hell out of Asaki and about every patron in the restaurant.

"What is it?" She yelped incredulously as Souta was staring wide-eyed in the direction of the bar as though he'd seen a ghost. But her question was completely ignored, as he suddenly marched over to the bar, with everyone in the place staring at him like a head case. Coming to a halt in front of the small television over the bar's counter, he continued staring at it for several moments, with everyone in the place too unsure and confused to see what on earth was wrong with the soccer star. After several dozen seconds of glaring slack-jawed at the television, Souta pulled out his cell phone, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"_Hello?"_

"Mom?"

"_Oh, hello, Souta? How's everything?"_

"Mom, are you at home right now?"

"_Yes. Why?"_

"Turn on the television. Channel eight."

"_Wh…uh, Okay."_ A few moments passed while he heard Sakura on the other end going from whatever room she'd been in to the den and turning on the TV. "_Oh my GOD."_ Came a horrified remark over the phone.

"S-souta?" Asaki had finally come along and was now standing beside him. "Honey, what's wrong?" When he didn't answer, she looked over at the screen he was staring so intensely at. It was some sort of news report, and by the looks of the shaky camera, was amateur footage. What she saw was…surprising, but not nearly enough to merit his reaction, in her judgment. It was what looked like a shirtless man on a bridge…

…looking again, she realized that wasn't a man.…not exactly. Rather, it was a bizarre looking humanoid with what appeared to be a big, poofy tail, pointy ears, and strange markings on his face.

The footage was on a loop, and when it went back to the beginning and showed the whole incident over again, she found good reason to gasp. It showed a car tipping over the side of a damaged bridge, about to plummet downwards before a horrified crowd. The crowd then turned mystified, however, when whatever that tailed person was jumped down from off camera, sunk its clawed hands into rear bumper, and pulled it back onto the bridge. Bare handedly dragged a fucking car back onto the edge of the bridge.

"…Holy fuck." She finally agreed.

**End Chapter 4**

* * *

**A/N: I should note that I added in the quasi-masturbation scene quite gratuitously. It's one of those really odd things where it does zero to advance the plot, but I just wanted to do it anyway.**

**Then again, maybe I was also annoyed by this chapter, because I more so felt it was something I had to write as a setup for the next chapter, in which the real meat of the whole story starts to emerge. Despite that I had some problems with this portion, I still went over it about a dozen times to make sure it was to my satisfaction. So I wanted to add in some pointless stupidity just to fun it up some. But to be honest, I'm still feel iffy about it. So, as usual, I really want to know what you guys thought.**

**The responses I've gotten so far all seem pretty positive and constructively critical, which is great. There are a lot of questions about Max, his parentage, and what happened to the old Inuyasha cast… rest assured, these will be answered, but only as Max himself finds them out. (And he will.) Sorry, no thpoilers. **

**Oh, and finally, footnotes:**

**_Zucker_: One of the pioneers of Laughaminute comedy genres.**

**_Jack Campbell_: The man who sort of invented cheerleading.**

**_FC Tokyo_: One of Tokyo's pro soccer teams.**

**Stay cool, baby,**

**Koday.**


	5. Bad Days and Silver Bullets

**Previous Chapter Illustration(s):**

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 21453765/**

(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces)

Max, all shirtless and heroic. And there are the onlookers, all confused and wide-eyed. I screwed this up a little when I drew a concrete railing as opposed to a think railing, but I had already finished it before I could correct that mistake.

BONUS!

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 21453552/**

The DDE machine scene. With certain bits a-bouncing unashamedly away. I'll probably get some angry e-mails over this, but what the hell.

**_Nikanaru_**

**Chapter 5**

Bad Days and Silver Bullets

_Or_

Unidentified Flying Angst

He was in shit. Deep shit. The deepest kind. Proverbially speaking, if there were a thousand gallon septic tank somewhere in the city's sewer systems, he'd be wallowing shamefully right at the bottom of it.

It could have gone a lot worse, but it also could have gone a hell of a lot better. Max had saved the lives of the people who were in that car, and that was most important thing, at least in his mind. What he hadn't counted on, however, was that some jackass with a cell phone video camera handy had been filming the whole horrific scene for whatever morbid amusement. The guy probably wanted to get a video of the poor souls plummeting down to their doom so he could sell the footage for some quick cash to some sensationalist news program.

_Asshole._ Well, whoever had shot that footage had gotten a hell of a lot more than he (or she, in all fairness) had bargained for when Max, stripped down to just his jeans, leapt onto the bridge, pulled the car to safety, and leapt back into the shadows of the night. He had done it all fairly quickly, but those brief couple of seconds he had been there were now being prominently covered all over the evening news. As of this point, all over the damn city, everyone and their dog were probably asking themselves "What in the name of hell was THAT?.!"

Luckily, no one seemed to specifically recognize him as Max Higurashi. Having removed his Toku crystal and most of his clothes, all anyone had seen was a platinum haired, fluffy-tailed, elf-eared, red-striped, claw-handed… um… thing perform a heroic deed. After he'd gone back to the ditch to put back on his crystal and his clothes, Kina had seemed none the wiser. Innocent as possible, he walked her the rest of the way home. If these had been any other circumstances, he'd have likely kicked himself for not even at least getting a goodnight peck from her. However, circumstances were not any other, and they'd both been pretty freaked out by the incident.

_Kind of a game killer, those near-fatal car crashes. _Walking home down the streets, people were looking at televisions in storefront windows, streaming the footage to their laptops, and text messaging each other like crazy. The news had caught on at the precise alarmingly fast rate that Max didn't want it to. Luckily, though, no one so much as batted an eye at him as he walked as nonchalantly as possible down the street. With his clothes and the crystal back on his person, Max, at best, had the same haircut as the creature that had captivated the city's collective attention span. That was some measure of relief to him.

Unfortunately, there were exactly three people who would recognize Max in that form. No doubt that by now they'd seen the footage, and also no doubt that they weren't very pleased. Which was why Max now found himself just standing outside him home, somewhat afraid to go in.

"_Somewhat", my ass._

**

* * *

**

**Ten Years Ago**

The cosmic adventures and the fantasy violence in the comic book were incredibly engrossing: Explosions, magic, laser blasts, martial arts and the whole shebang. How ironic that Max's focus on such explosive violence would be batted away by a soft knocking at his bedroom door.

"Yeah?" He called out, inviting whoever was knocking in. The door opened, and there was Grandma. Max was tempted to smile at her, but he immediately noticed something was amiss. Not a trace of her ordinary warm smile could be found on her face. For that matter, there was no sign her usually sunny disposition whatsoever. She looked downright frigidly at him, her face utterly emotionless. He did notice, however, that she was carefully breathing deeply and rhythmically. He'd never seen Grandma like this before, and truth be told, it was just a little scary. Max stared at her like a deer at headlights, some basic instinct telling him to make no sudden movements.

A few moments later, Sakura sat down beside him on the bed. Max scooched over and sat up from his laid position. She took a deep breath.

"Max." It wasn't a question. Although her tone was perfectly even, betraying her neither as angry or happy, she spoke it with an authority that she, as a parent, had rarely ever used.

"Yeah?" He was definitely scared, and it showed in his barely audible tone. What he was being confronted with now was the polar opposite of the Grandmother he knew and loved. Silence followed again, much to the chagrin of Max's anxious heart. Whatever it was she wanted to say, it seemed like she couldn't get it out. Or didn't want to. Instead, she finally decided to simply reach into her pocket and show him.

Max's heart didn't beat… it boomed when he saw her take out the broken lock to the well house.

In his horror, he looked up from the lock to her to find that she was staring right down at him, fully confrontational. Max instantly lowered his head, unable to look her in the eye; his gaze averted to his hands, as if that somehow alleviated the incredibly rotten feeling he now had.

"You went into the Well House." She stated. Again, it wasn't a question. She wanted to hear him confirm what he had done.

"Yes." There was absolutely no sense in lying. He'd been caught, and deceit was only going to make things worse.

"Did you…did you go in the well?" That, on the other hand, was a question. She didn't know for sure…or did she? Maybe she was still trying to see how honest he was willing to be with her. Maybe he left some trace of evidence at the bottom of the well. It was too risky denying it.

"I…I was just looking in it…and I slipped in." That was true enough. He hadn't gone in completely on purpose.

"And what happened?" She asked.

"Nothing." He squeaked out. "I just…just hit the ground. That's all." With another deep breath, she balled up the lock in her hands, letting another moment of gut-wrenching guilt tear the little kid up on the inside.

"Max, look at me." Hesitant to say the least, Max gritted his teeth and looked up to face his Grandmother. Gone now was the emotionless stare, now replaced with something far more horrific: eyes brimming with tears, lips clearly struggling to hold in sobs, eyebrows twitching. Max had always known his grandmother to be a woman who had a nearly infectiously happy disposition. Even on occasions where he'd seen her sad or crying, had always maintained herself with a certain dignity. Now, however, she looked as though she was on the verge of breaking down. "Why?" She spoke in a voice that threatened to crack under the quivering sobs emerging from her throat.

Max felt his heart sink, and his body go cold as though the blood flow in his veins had stopped entirely. Seeing grandma like this was quite possibly the most horrible thing he'd ever seen in his young life. And he was responsible for it. Now threatening him were tearful eyes and sobs of his own.

"I…didn't w-ant you to be sad anymore." Heaved his voice. "I though maybe I could go f-find Kagome and bring her back. So you…" He never got to finish his explanation. Sakura wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tightly against her. By now she was crying freely, and up against her Max could feel her body convulsing with each spasm in her throat.

"Max… I lost my husband over 20 years ago. It was… it was excruciating then, and it still is today. When I lost my daughter those eight years ago, I just wanted to crawl up into a ball and die." She sniffled again. "Max, if I lose you too, I just couldn't take it. You and Souta are the last good things I have left in my life. I don't care what the risk is, it would KILL me if I woke up one morning and knew I'd never see you again either." Max clung to her even tighter than ever.

"I'm sorry, Grandma, I'm sorry!" He kept hugging her, kept sobbing into her shirt. "I promise, I won't ever do it again. I promise… I…"

They stayed that way, just holding on to each other for several minutes afterwards, weeping into each other's arms.

* * *

**Present**

"Congratulations. Your face is going to on the front page of every newspaper in the city tomorrow." Souta admonished.

"Well, if you want to get technical, that's not my real face. Officially, anyway." Max tried. Humor, however, was not going over well with him, or Great Grandpa and Sakura either.

"And meanwhile, I'm probably going to end up somewhere in the gossip column." Souta grumbled, having learned only too late that some fucker paparazzi had taken a few shots of him freaking out at the Ritz.

_Yeah, I can see the headlines now: "Demon sighting shocks city" followed by "Psychotic soccer star terrorizes local restaurant."_ Despite it all, Max couldn't help grinning at the thought of something like that hitting the newsstands.

"I'm sorry, is this funny to you?.?" Apparently, Souta caught his grin.

_A little._

"No." He said, wiping said grin off his face.

"Max, what were you thinking?.?" It seemed that Grandpa was equally perturbed by these events. Despite Max's tendency to try and ease tension in any given situation, he was having a horrid time dealing with the series of accusatory glares and words being thrown his way.

"I was thinking that those people in that car were going to DIE unless I did something!" That reply was given with a firmness that left no room to imply that he was at all ashamed of what he'd done. It was enough to silence the castigations of carelessness and stupidity, if only briefly.

"I…I get that, yes." Souta conceded, admitting Max had at least one valid point. "But now the whole city, hell, the whole country knows about you. Did you ever stop to consider that?"

"Yes, I did!" Max was getting increasingly frustrated. "You'll notice that I took off the crystal and my clothes before I went out into the open!"

"And are you certain that will be all it takes for no one to recognize you?" Grandpa carefully asked, making sure it sounded like an honest question and not some condescending patronization. It seemed to work, as Max calmed down a little.

"I'm sure." He confirmed. "When I put my clothes and the crystal back on, Kina, or anybody on the street didn't recognize me."

"Kina?" Grandpa queried.

"My…my date." Clarified Max.

"DATE?.! You've been going out? Since when?.?"

"Can we PLEASE focus on what's important here, Grandpa!" Souta moaned, returning attention to the issue at hand.

"And besides,…" Max continued. "…that video of me isn't even that clear or close up." True enough. Despite the rapid pace at which cell phone technology was advancing, the footage was still pretty pixilated.

"Well, that's all great, but…" Souta was also trying to maintain calmness. "…even if no one recognizes you, the fact still is that people all over the city think that some…inhuman being is lurking around. Authorities are probably going to investigate this."

"No, they'll forget about it." Max argued back. "Because I'm NOT going to expose myself in public like that again. Eventually, this'll all blow over, and people will just think that whole thing was all some sort of hoax, like Bigfoot or…uh, the Loch Ness." The room came unto silence again, as all took a moment to ponder that assessment.

"And what happens if you see another accident like that?" Tension was briefly undone when surprise struck. Sakura had been sitting silently in her chair the whole time, and the sudden reminder of her presence struck everyone, particularly Max. "Are you going to do something like this again if you come across another…accident?"

"I…ugh…" He buried his hands frustratingly in his short mane of silver hair. "…I…I don't know. But for Christ's sake, what was I supposed to do?" Sakura took a seat beside him on the couch, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Max, no one is saying that what you did was wrong." She consolingly spoke. "If anything, we're proud of you for what you decided to do." Feeling a little better, he smiled at her. She smiled back, but only briefly before a look of seriousness returned to he face. "But Max, I know this world. I've lived in it a long time, and I know that sooner or later, you're going to be confronted with another decision like the one you made tonight. And when that happens, you need to be able to stop yourself, and you need to be able to tell yourself, 'no.'" Max had certainly not expected THAT out of her. In shock at her words, he began to argue.

"What? But…"

"Max." Tears were now appearing in her eyes. The sight of that stopped him cold.

_Oh, God, no. Not again. Please, not this._

"I'm not saying that you can't ever save a life if you have the chance. Of course do it when you can." Listening to her, Max felt his heartbeat increasing as trails of tears began moving down her fragile face. "But what you have to be able to do is know when the risk is too great, and to be able to tell yourself that enough is…just enough. That… that you're not going to be able to do anyone any good if you take too big a risk, and end up losing everything." The way she was speaking, it almost seemed as though Sakura was now talking about something else entirely. But Max knew that she was simultaneously alluding to both the possibility of him being discovered, and the circumstances under which she'd lost her daughter.

"No, Grandma, c'mon. Don't cry, please." He pleaded as he tried hugging her in hopes of heading off her emotional breakdown.

"I know, Max. I know what it's like to want so desperately to do the right thing, no matter what." She wept as she hugged him back. "But, God, I also know what it's like when you go one step too far, and it ends up costing you more than you could ever imagine." Max clung to her desperately, her every word hitting into his heart like a coronary. He could never stand to see her like this, and whatever prideful front he'd put up fizzled away at the sight of it. "I know that you're a smart kid, Max. I know that you can tell the difference between a situation where you being caught if you expose yourself is high or low. I'm not asking you to never do something like this again, but, please, please, promise me that when you see a situation where the risk is just too great, don't take a chance. Just… walk away."

"Okay, okay." He said quickly, soothingly. "I promise. I won't." They held onto each other for a few more moments as the grief and emotion washed over Sakura, Grandpa and Souta stood silently in respect for the two. Eventually Sakura was able to detach herself from Max, wipe the remains of tears from her eyes and smile at him.

Max gave one back, even though it was a little forced.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Getting up early this morning, for some reason, had been absolute murder. Max had actually hit the snooze button a good five times before finally dragging himself out of bed. That was odd, considering that he required very little sleep, if at all. Apparently, something about being a demon also meant that you require a lot less beauty rest than the average human. In fact, a few years ago, during summer vacation, he'd experimented to see how long he could go without any sleep whatsoever, and had gone a whopping week and a half before he'd started hallucinating from sheer exhaustion. Usually, he did nod off for at least a few hours a night out of habit, but he could also easily go without.

Last night, though he hadn't gotten so much as a wink seeing as how thoughts of the flurry of recent events in his life kept him up all night. That shouldn't have affected him so much, but now he was laying his head down on his desk, using his arms for a pillow, in hopes of somehow warding off the heaviness in his eyes. The class had completed their work ahead of schedule, and had the next ten minutes free, time Max intended to spend napping.

Fat chance.

"Dude!" The agonizingly unignorable voice boomed from overhead, and Max was forced to open one eye in response. In no time at all, he had been surrounded by his friends.

"Dude." He replied, trying to sound as hoarse and near-death as possible in hopes that that would earn him some empathy and he'd have the remaining nine minutes of homeroom in peace.

Fat chance.

"Hey, so how'd it go last night?" Dai interrogated, pulling up a seat next to Max.

"Oh, it was lovely. Movie, dinner, dancing, all that shit. Now go 'way." Before he could even shut his eye entirely, the screeching of other chairs against the ground secured his presence in the land of consciousness. Joe, Kato, Dai and Ciro all sat around him. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

"Don't give me that!" Said Kato with the determination that only an hormonal adolescent eager for lurid tales could. "How far d'ya get? Did she put out?"

"What?.! No!"

"So then what happened?"

"Nothing! I told you, it was… stereotypical, I guess. We went and saw a movie, then went to the arcade for a while, and then I walked her home. That's all. Christ."

"So you gonna go out with her again?" Came Ciro's inquiry.

"Uh…maybe." He shrugged, suddenly reminded that before the 'incident' occurred, she had been hinting towards wanting to go out with him again. He would definitely have to find her and follow up on that. "We kinda got waylaid at the end with that whole thing that was all over the news." The others looked at each other in incomprehension.

"What thing?"

"Y'know that…" Max had to try and act like he didn't know that much about the subject he himself was about to bring up, but if it silenced these lechers, it may very well be worth it. "…thing were that guy with the tail saved those people on the bridge." Max instantly realized that was a mistake when their eyes lit up even more so than they had been when discussing his sex life.

"Holy shit, you actually SAW that thing?.!" Joe exclaimed, leaning in closer, as if being reasonably within earshot was insufficient.

"Uh, sorta." He cringed. "We were below the bridge when it happened, and… well, Kina saw more than I did."

"Oh, man, that was so cool!" Kato prattled on. "I can't believe there's some sort of bonna fide mutant in the city!"

_Mutant?.! You son of a…_

"I'll bet it's, like, some government's genetically engineered super-soldier that escaped or something!"

"Oh, come on, you can't seriously believe that bullshit. It was all probably some stupid stunt a bunch of jackasses were pulling." Dai argued.

"I agree." Ciro chimed in. "Remember _Rebirth of the Swap Thing?_" Recognition struck all five boys. "I'll bet anything someone's trying to pull of the same gimmick." Two years ago over in England, a supposed "innocent bystander" out camping with his family shot a home movie of some man-beast lurking around in the woods. Major news networks around the world aired it and briefly created an international buzz. It was later revealed that a new _Swamp Thing_ sequel was in the works, and the man had just shot a scene they were rehearsing. But this wasn't revealed before a good amount of hype had been built up among the public. Furthermore, some time after the film had been released, it was also discovered that the man who shot the footage had been paid to do so and to report it to the networks. But in any event, the scheme had worked marvelously, as _Rebirth of the Swamp Thing_ had been one of the top grossing movies of that summer.

_It worked on us, anyway. We were dumb enough to go see it._

"Probably." Max fraudulently concurred, now wondering if spreading rumors of that sort would probably discourage anyone from taking last night's mishap seriously.

"Eh. Well, it's been a slow week in the news anyways." Joe shrugged. "Still, if that were real, that would be so awesome."

_OK, time for another subject change._

"Anyway, you guys wanna come over to my place tonight? We just got some swords on loan from a collector in China. Some pretty badass looking ones."

"Swords?" Once again, their respective eyes beamed in delight. Thanks to their common love of martial arts action flicks, the whole gang had a passion for ancient weaponry, swords and blade weapons in particular, in what was otherwise a total apathy for world history. However, tonight was a busy night for them all, so they had to politely postpone it.

With both topics of conversation Max didn't want to engage in buried, the rest of the class went on casually, all three minutes of it. The bell rung, and students all headed out for their next classes. As luck would have it, though, Max was stopped at the door by the teacher.

"Higurashi, I just received a call from the office. Ms. Nagasi wants to see you as soon as possible."

"Eh?" A most confused expression crossed Max's features. "What for?"

"She didn't say. Now go, she's expecting you." His dental work grinding against itself in aggravation, Max forgoed his usual Thursday afternoon trek to math class and headed in the direction of the principal's office.

_Fuck, fuck, fuckity fucko._

Principal Nagasi was, and Max was not at all being subjective in this assessment, the veritable definition of the word "Bitch". Fuck the original context in which the word simply meant a "female dog", that woman had taken the notion of what it meant to be a proverbial bitch and single-handedly popularized it to the point where dictionary had been forced to change it to suit her. Max had actually had her as a professor in one of his history classes a year ago before she was promoted to principal. She was absolutely zeroshit. She demanded nothing short of army-soldier-like behaviour on the part of her students. If your answers in her classes were incomplete or only half right, you fail outright. If the spelling or grammar on your answers was wrong, despite it not being English class, you fail outright. If you some much as twitched in your seat, you were out in the hallway, you had detention, and you failed outright. So naturally, Max had had the hardest time of anyone else. He couldn't sit still to save his life, his facial expressions gave away any smartass comments he was keeping to himself, and barely a day went by where he hadn't gotten screamed at by her. Max ordinarily tried to be excruciatingly friendly with just about anybody, teachers included, but with her it was 'Go in, get your work done, and get out without ever making eye contact'. It wasn't long before Max just gave up. Even Al wasn't that horrible.

But despite her insane level of unpopularity among students, she was one hell of an administrator. So naturally, when the position of principal had opened up at the end of last semester, it went right to her. Now not only was she the bitch whom all other bitches looked to for inspiration, but she was in a position of greater power than anyone else in the school. Expulsions and suspensions had risen dramatically since she'd taken office. And now even most other teachers in the school were ragging on her behind her back.

_So what the hell could she want with me? God, someone please shoot me in the face._

Max was usually the chipper one who tried to liven things up, but you'd never guess that from the way he sulked down the hallways like a prisoner to his execution as waves of students passed him by. Between all the fake identities, appearances on national television, domestic dramatics, gabbing ninny friends and the fact that he also had to twist his invisible tail about like crazy to keep it from being felt by the multitude of passerbys,… well, sufficed to say, he was getting to be just a bit uncharacteristically bitter.

There was one more thing, too. Someone was staring at him. Intuitively, he quite literally felt a pair of eyes following him throughout the hallway. Ordinarily, he'd just let it slide, but in his somewhat foul mood, he turned confront whoever it was.

_Oh, for Christ's sake…_

It was Al. And gone was the usual lids-half closed, bored/depressed look in her eyes. Instead she gazed at Max with them wide opened, although her mouth was pursed shut almost forcefully.

"What!.?" He snapped, despite holding most, but not all the curtness from his tone. To his surprise, she lowered her head and turned around almost shamefully.

"Nothing." Hurriedly, she disappeared into the crowds.

_Terrific. On top of everything else, she's acting weird… Well, weirder._ Shrugging it off, he turned and made his way to the office, introducing himself to the secretary.

"Go right on in." She instructed him. Max took a deep breath of courage, and dared to enter the bureau of one of his worst nightmares.

_Okay, c'mon Max, just lighten up. Don't let all this ruin your day. You're a funny, happy guy. And if you let these turdsuckers get to you, then the terrorist have won_.A forced friendly smile made its way across his face.

"Higurashi." Miss Nagasi stated flatly, not even looking up from her paperwork as he entered to room and closed the door behind him. "Sit down." Max did as he was told, and stayed there quietly for almost half a minute before she finally looked up at him. "Wipe that smirk off your face." He again ruefully did as he was told. "Higurashi, I do not take kindly to criminally related activity being brought into my school."

"Uh?" He waited a moment before clearing his throat. "Beg pardon?"

"You can imagine my dismay when a police officer came in this afternoon asking to speak with you." The eyebrows on Max's head went WAY up, then quickly settled down.

"Um…what for?"

"You tell me." She fixed him a head-boring glare as if she expected him to confess whatever horrid crime this situation was all about. Once again, the only thing Max could think of was yesterday's drama, but there was no way in hell that could be what this was all about.

"Miss Nagasi, I don't know." He maintained. "Where is the, um, officer?"

"She's waiting in the vice-principal's office."

"Then why are we…?"

"I just wanted to let you know that if you've been caught doing anything remotely illegal, and I will be asking if you did, don't bother coming back here. I don't permit criminals in my school." Max did his absolute best not to growl at her.

_Criminal? CRIMINAL?.! Where the fuck do you get the nerve?.! I slaved away on that after-school charity program all last semester, and you have the balls… yes, BALLS, seeing as how I can only conceive that a creature like you could must have been assembled in Dr. Frankenstein's lab while the good doctor was drunk, incompetently making you up of organs that shouldn't be there, balls inclusive! The only "remotely illegal" thing I can think of doing right now is taking a mirror and forcing you to witness the horror that lies in the depths of your own eyes so that you'll scream in absolute terror until your GODDAM HEAD EXPLODES, SPATTERING CHUNKS OF PURE EVIL ALL OVER THIS FUCKING OFFICE!_

"Yes…Ma'am." He muttered quietly taking a moment to close his eyes and exhale before he got up from his seat and proceeded to the adjacent door leading to the veep's office. Opening it up, he found himself now facing the back of another woman, dressed casually rather than in any recognizable police uniform. He supposed she must be a plainclothes officer. The vice-principal was nowhere in sight.

Responding to the sound of the door opening, she turned and gave him a long stare before offering a smile that reeked of insincerity. Max was a little taken aback at how young she was. She looked as though she couldn't be barely any older than him. Usually, officers who had enough stature to interrogate people had at least a few features on their face indicating some seniority.

"Higurashi…" She said slowly, motioning for him to come in. Max did so, closing the door behind him. "Please, have a seat."

"Hello." He greeted. "So, uh, what's this all about?" He asked, taking a seat as she leaned against the desk. This woman was just downright eerie. Something about the way she spoke was dripping with a bizarre seductiveness, as though her mouth was making careful love to each syllable. Ordinarily, that might be kind of hot from Max's perspective, but somehow it repelled him. Sort of like how he might feel if a homosexual man were coming onto him at that moment, despite that this was a woman.

"This concerns the…incident last night…I'm sure you've heard… the demon?" Apprehension became evident in Max's eyes for but a brief moment, not only for the reason that this was being brought up again, but the specific use of the word 'Demon'. No other news reports he'd heard of had used that term. They'd always used vaguer terms, like "Creature", "Being", "Non-Human" or "Guy with a hell of a makeup job", and it comforted Max that the ambiguous labeling meant that they were far off from the truth.

That comfort had now just gone out the window. Still, Max quickly suppressed his expression of shock and hid it as fast as he could. Seeming not to notice, the officer continued on. "You were sighted at the scene of the incident last night, but you didn't give any testimony to the police officers when they arrived." Keeping his cool, Max swallowed and replied evenly.

"Yeah. Well, I was in a bit of a hurry, and since no one got hurt, I didn't think it was all that important…"

"That was a demon there last night, in the middle of our city. You don't think that was important?" This was getting creepier and creepier.

"Um, begging your pardon, but why are you calling it a 'demon'?" She let loose a chuckle that was just as eerie as her speech.

"Oh, demons are most distinctive. I suppose to an unseasoned eye they might appear to be just a strange-looking person, but several things give them away." Max's mind was racing furiously, trying to think of how any ordinary, innocent, ignorant human would respond to these kinds of statements.

_Play dumb. Play Dumb. Play Dumb. Play Dumb._

"E-excuse, you think this thing from last night was an actual… demon?"

"Oh, I know it was." She smiled at him.

"I mean, like, a real demon? As in something that spawned from hell and came to bring damnation to all mankind?.?" He layered his speech with an obvious tone of mockery.

_Yes, feign mockery. Anyone else would think this sounds ridiculous. Hell, hearing it out loud, I think this sounds ridiculous._

"Common misconception. Demons, or most of them, do not derive from hell. They are actually natural creatures, put on this earth just the same as any other life form."

"Uh…right."

"One thing to look for is these pointed ears they have. That is almost always a certain sign that a creature is demonic in nature." This had gone from creepy to outright scary in no time flat. The entire world was, as near as Max knew, completely ignorant on the subject of actual demonology. He knew what she was saying was right, but only because of what he knew about himself. Now he knew that at least one other person in the world did know about real demons, and Max was having a horrible time keeping the panic out of his person.

_Stay calm. Keep acting natural. Just get out of here._

"Listen, um, if you're going to talk to somebody, you should talk to Kina."

"…I beg your pardon, who?"

"Kina. The girl who was with me last night. You guys spoke to her too, right?"

"No. Not that I've heard of."

"But…you said I was spotted last night. And Kina was right next to me."

"Oh?" She raised a brow at that information, as though it were new to her. This was making less and less sense. Max started to rise from his chair.

"Look, I haven't seen anything different than anything else that's been playing over and over again on the news. So if I can just get back to class…"

"Just a moment." She reached out her arm to halt him. "There is something else you should know about demons. Just for future reference." Max sighed.

"Okay, what?"

"Rarely, but it occasionally, they will use Toku crystals to disguise themselves as humans."

Before he could react, she suddenly whipped out, with inhuman speed, a silenced berretta from her jacket and pointed it right at Max's abdomen. The oxygen in his lungs didn't even have a chance to make a sound when a bright, pink flash emerged from the gun's muzzle and Max was instantaneously overcome with a pain unlike anything he'd previously conceived.

His lungs seized up, preventing him from screaming. His body convulsed horribly as a he felt something small and powerful punch right into his gut. But beyond even the utter shock at being shot and the intense pain that alone brought, he also felt an unbelievable burning sensation rip in waves throughout his entire body. His body was thrown backwards out of the chair and onto the floor, the crashing being the only sounds of any struggle in the room.

Clutching his gut and convulsing on the floor, Max began a desperate struggle to breathe. With his throat seized up, he had to literally force a gust of air down his into his lungs, the sound coming out as though he were choking. A moment after the utter shock of the pain registered in his mind, his survival instinct kicked in and he was writhing away from the woman as fast as he could. It did him no good. It was a small office, and he soon hit wall. There was nothing else he could do except keep trying to breathe, desperately try to maintain consciousness, and look up fearfully at his assaulter.

She hadn't moved an inch since firing at him. Rather, she continued leaning against the desk, apparently amused by Max's throes. Her smile was sadistic.

Just then, the adjacent door opened as Miss Nagasi entered to see what all the commotion was about. She only had time to gasp at the scene before her as the policewoman lunged at her and pistol-whipped her on the temple, knocking her out cold. She then turned her attention back to Max, stalking towards him slowly.

"You see,…" She went on her voice just as disturbingly calm as before. "…demons in this world apparently went extinct under mysterious circumstances. Something, despite my best efforts, I have never been able to discover since I arrived here."

"Wha…ahAAARRR…wh…" Max couldn't even speak; the burning sensation was too intense. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

"But I knew that there had to be at least one here. The same one I followed through." As she stalked ever closer, he could swear her voice was now becoming ethereal, like two people speaking out of the same mouth. The second voice was male, much more suited to her disturbing style of speaking. "The problem was that he was obviously well hidden. Even though I was using the body of a holy priestess so that I could see through such crystal illusions and sense demonic auras, I still couldn't seem to find him." Max coughed violently as he struggled for more air. Coming closer, he began to see a light enveloping her eyes…a despicable purple haze bleeding over the white and the pupil. "Until last night, when I actually saw him all over television. In Tokyo. With that narrowed down, it almost became pathetically easy to track him down." Gurgling, he could now begin to taste his own coppery, black blood.

"Grrr…kragh…b…burning…hahhhrrgh." He didn't know why he told her that. Maybe the pain had made him desperate enough to beg her to help him. Instead, she chuckled again.

"That burning sensation you're feeling? That's holy energy eating away at your insides." She held up her gun proudly. "Demons could ordinarily shrug off regular weapons, but holy power is like fire to them. It used to be that priestesses would use swords and arrows as vassals for their miko energy when they confronted demons, but it seems this world's bullets work quite effectively as well." She was kneeling down next to him, getting closer still, and Max could now make out several disgusting, dark veins in several places underneath her thin, paling skin. "Don't be too worried. It wasn't enough to kill you, but it will be more than enough to incapacitate you while I infest you." Another sadistic laugh left her lips. "Well, that and I would like to see you suffer a little for all the trouble you've given me."

"Whar…what?"

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten about me." She was now closer than ever, her face mere centimeters from his pained, sweating one. "I was there with you when we first entered this miserable world. Though I suppose you might not have noticed since I was only a small aural presence back then." Suddenly, the smile was gone from her face, and she was now frowning angrily. "Do you have any idea what it's like to float around, blind, deaf, bodiless and incapacitated for over a decade before regaining enough strength to even see again?" She harshly grabbed his hair and forced him to stare at her. "To separated from your former glory, only to become some invisible vegetative? The pains I had to go through to regenerate enough power to infest even one pathetic human body! What I had to go through to learn how this disgusting world operates! How Goddamn long it took before I could find a miko body in this wretched, ignorant, reprehensible world!" Despite his pain, Max found enough strength to jerk his head free of her grip and spat at her.

"WHO…TH'FUCK…A-GR…ARE YOU?.!" She leaned in again. He saw very clearly as a renewed, dark smile found it's way across her face.

"Why, Nikanaru…I am Naraku of course. And don't worry if you don't remember me, we're going to be spending a long time together…"

**_End Chapter 5_**

**_

* * *

_**

**A/N: Woo!**

**Yes, I know Naraku rambled on a bit, but he always tends to do that, right? Seriously, it's one of the weirdest things about super-villains. And it's also extremely advantageous for writers, as it sets a precedent that allows us to use cheap exposition.**

**…Okay, okay, I'm just being a dick. Once again, that's something I overwrote several times in hopes of making it seem plausible. It's pretty fucking hard to give out just enough plot revelations to make some sense of the immediate moment, but not so much that it gives away too much later on. It's like a fine wine you gotta let age a little bit before you uncork it for all to bask in.**

**I suppose it's also worth mentioning that I'm only supposing that the modern-day setting for Inuyasha is in Tokyo. To my knowledge, the exact city has never been named officially, so I just went ahead and made it that.**

**Soooo… whatd'ya think? I personally felt this chapter came off a bit iffy, seeing as how I don't write angst very often. How'd that come off?**

**Rock on, folks.**

**Koday.**


	6. Black Blooded Trail

**Previous Chapter Illustration**

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 21930765/**

(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces)

Ouch. I hope this helps exemplify just how much that hurt, cause it comes up a lot in this chapter.

**_Nikanaru_**

**Chapter 6:**

Black Blooded Trail

_Or_

Further Ways of Embarrassing Oneself Before Dying.

It's really funny, some of the thoughts that can go through your head while you're running for your very life. Ideally, you'd be devoting your all of your cognitive powers towards the subject of your pursuer…how to avoid her… where a good hiding place might be… how to move faster despite clutching your bullet-ridden gut in agony… and if there were any way you could turn the tables. Strategic things like that.

Another kind of thought process that one might expect from this kind of situation was along the lines of panic. Fear. Desperation. Those kinds of things. Logically speaking, those where less desirable than the former, but perfectly understandable under the circumstances.

And then there was Max, who, with a maniac chasing after him with a gun, couldn't help but figure the following:

_I can't believe I fucking pissed myself! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Why did I have to have a Coke right before I got shot?.!

* * *

_

**10 Minutes Ago**

As he lay on the office floor, almost completely paralyzed by the rippling sensations of blazing pain tearing through every inch of his being, all Max could do was fearfully stare at the woman who had done this to him while struggling to remain conscious.

Max wasn't human. And although This "Naraku" didn't resemble him, she clearly wasn't either. It was more than her just being inhuman, though…something about her oozed of an unnatural aura. Where there should be white in her eyes, there was instead an almost luminescent violet. Under her partially transparent white skin were hideous, thick dark veins he could actually see pulsing.

But what was sealing the deal on the judgment was her hand. The way she raised it before him and herself, observing it almost in bemusement. Dangling her fingers around, Max saw those same dark veins seen all over her body begin to "crawl" underneath the skin in her hand, like vines rapidly growing around a trellis. They made sickening sounds of flesh churning and squishing as the thick veins pushed them aside, making their way through her fingers. At last, they reached the fingertips, but that was not the end of this sickening display. Sickening more so was the way they pushed at the skin on top of her fingers until at last they popped right out. Several tiny little tendrils were now squirming from broken flesh out of each digit on her hand.

She turned her attention from it to look back down at Max, and her smile only widened when she saw that the look of pain on his face now replaced with that of stunned horror. As if to spite him, she playfully dangled her fingers around more, the tendrils waving disgustingly in motion.

"No fear. This won't hurt." She mockingly comforted him as she coiled her digits into a claw-like grip. "Well, not physically anyway." Max instinctively bore his fangs at her, although with his crystal still on, he could only bare a set of flat, pearly whites at her. For that matter, the bleeding that Max was doing from his abdomen was invisible to the naked eye as well. In addition to hiding his demonic features, the Toku crystal also rendered his blood invisible. However, he was bleeding so profusely that the blood eventually dripped off of him, out of the range of the crystal magic, and appeared on the cold office floor. His own blood was dark, a much darker shade of red than human blood, appearing almost black at a careless glance.

"Wh..ar…" He inhaled his next breath carefully to make sure he could complete the sentence without wincing in pain. "…what are you?.!"

"I thought that much would be obvious." She paused her approaching hand a moment. "I am a demon. Like you."

"Bullshit!" He snarled at her. "You don't look a…Arggh!…a damn thing like me!" Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Are you honestly this ignorant. Nikanaru?" She laughed at him. "Pathetic. How long did you expect to stay hidden with such utter lack of basic knowledge? You think one Toku crystal was all you needed to stay hidden?"

"Hiding?" He went on, his breathing now evening out a little. "I wasn't hiding!"

"Oh?" He flinched a little when she raised her gun to him again. However, she simply tapped at his crystal with the muzzle. "Then what purpose does this serve?"

"For…" He stopped himself before he went on. The young demon may not have had half a clue as to what the hell was going on, but there was no way he was going to reveal personal details to a person who'd just shot him, let alone, someone who was now menacing him with grotesque fingernail extensions. Instead, he just hissed out a groan as the next wave of pain flashed through him.

_Wait a minute…did it just…?_

"It makes no difference." She scoffed at his silence. "In any event, I found you. And now we can both leave this miserable place." Her hand began moving closer and closer to his face, the dark tendrils at the ends wiggling in anticipation of contact. Max had no idea what was going to happen if those things touched him, but every inkling of common sense he had in him screamed that he wasn't going to like it. She was going right for his face, and his eyelids began twitching reflexively as they came within centimeters of them.

Another wave of pain went through Max's body. This one far less intense than the last.

_Yes, it IS!_

Surprise belonged to Naraku this time, as Max's fist suddenly sprang forth from the wound it was clenching and connected with all of its might to her shocked face. She went flying back into the desk, the sheer momentum of her body sending both the desk and her slamming into the adjacent wall with such force that it shattered the window.

Instantly was Max making an effort to push himself back up, although not without a lot of difficulty. In its last few waves, the burning pain that had, seconds ago, been so unbearable that he couldn't move at all… had subsided significantly. Not nearly so much so that attempting to move again hurt like a bastard, though. And beyond that, there was still the wrenching gunshot wound in his abdomen. One hand still on the injury, he managed to get to his feet, breathing heavily. Looking over at the body of Naraku, his ragged breaths were, for a moment, was the only sound coming from anywhere.

_Is she... dead...? _In his panicked bid for survival, Max had lashed out against her with all of his might…the blow he had rendered upon her would have been about enough to kill any human, even despite that he'd been severely weakened. He'd literally felt the bone in her face cave in against his knuckles. For Max, the notion that he'd actually killed someone was almost as horrific as the terror he'd been facing a few seconds ago. Carefully, oh so carefully, he approached her limp form. He wanted to tell himself that he'd had no choice, but that didn't make the idea of him having actually ended another person's life any less mortifying for him.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about that too long. When he stepped a few inches short of where she lay, her purple eyes snapped open and her hand grabbed at his foot. Max didn't even have time to gasp before he hit the ground hard after she pulled his own leg out from under him. A howl of anguish hurled from his lungs when the impact painfully reminded him about his wound. While he scrambled to get on his hands and knees, she was crawling away from him. Looking ahead, he saw that she was heading for the gun on the ground. Making rare use of his invisible tail, he swatted the gun away as he struggled back onto his feet. Instead of still going after her weapon, though, Naraku returned her attentions to him. Cold, pale and unbelievably powerful hands clamped around his neck with vice-like strength, shocking him further. He was lifted off of his feet entirely and thrown harshly against the wall, granite cracking under the collision. With him now shaking off the blurry vision that such an inhuman battering had given him, Naraku made an uninterrupted grab for the berretta. By the time Max's eyes refocused, he was staring at Naraku across the room, her gun pointing straight at him. Wisely, he froze in place.

"How…how can you still be moving!.?" She growled at him. "That was a miko bullet!" He didn't have an answer for her. Both because he wasn't daring to move, mouth inclusive… and also because he seriously didn't know. "Answer me!" She yelled, cocking the gun as a threat.

"Lady…" He panted back in labored huffs. "…you are operating…under the mis…mistaken impression that I have…the slightest fucking clue what the…hell you're talking about." They stared each other down, his golden orbs locked dead on to the purple pupils of hers. She searched him for any sign of deceit, which was all but impossible given that he was already trembling and practically hyperventilating. But despite that every other physical sign on him indicated that he was terrified, Max's eyes locked with hers, showing a defiant, uncompromising glare. Unusual, but not a sign of bearing false witness.

"No matter." She finally stated. That was the only warning Max got before he saw the muscles on her arm begin to constrict. He moved and she fired, but a split-second too late. A flash of bright pink light once again accompanied the zip of the silencer and a bullet flew across the room, leaving a trail of dissipating energy in its wake. Although Max avoided the actual bullet, he was close enough to feel the excess energy singing at his skin like the licks of an errant fire. Knowing that he had less than another second before she could fire again, he used his current momentum to hurl himself right for the broken window.

Max had jumped immense heights before, but never under any sort of life-threatening pressure, and never with so serious an injury. Despite the fact that he managed to twist himself in mid-air so he could land on his feet, he still stumbled and fell upon hitting the ground. This time he managed to collect himself and get back up much quicker, and was off as fast as his limping form could allow, heading for the school gates. Given that Naraku apparently had superhuman physical capabilities as well, he expected her to jump right out after him. Tossing a quick look behind him to see how close she was behind him…he saw nothing.

Much to the relief of Max's bleeding internal organs, he stopped. Brief confusion struck him, followed by realization… he'd just left school… left hundreds of innocents… left principal Nagasi with an extremely dangerous and demonstrably psychotic woman inside.

What was it Sakura had told him? Measure the risks, then determine if it's really worth it. This was easily the single most deadly situation he'd ever found himself in in his life. For the very first time, he was actually afraid of dying. That instinct to survive, the same self-preservation sense every living creature possesses lit up in Max's mind for the very first time. It screamed at him to run, run, and keep running.

And then there was that same feeling he'd had last night when he was about to watch two people die, and found himself unable to simply sit back and watch it happen when he could have done something about it. The same sort of feeling was present here as well, battling it out with his desire to flee. And although he'd never had a conflict like this before, he was just as surprised as anyone else might be that conscience easily and instantly won out over self-preservation. Fleeing his school like a coward while some super-powered, homicidal maniac was inside threatening lives was out of the fucking question.

_Sorry, Grandma._

But just as he took a step back toward the school, Naraku finally came flying out the window. Despite the three-story drop, she landed perfectly on her feet, much more elegantly than Max had managed.

_Oh! Well, that settles that._ Internal conflicts ended insultingly fast as his heel ground into the dirt and twisted himself around, instantly heading off in the other direction again.

* * *

**Present**

It was a bizarre scene for people on the streets when a tall, silver haired young man came limping down the sidewalk…only he "limped" at a speed that matched a marathon runner's. He was grasping at his stomach as if there were something wrong with it, but there was no sign of injury. There was a dark stain on his jeans, though, looking as if he'd wet himself. Was this some sort of joke? There were even what looked like spots of dark-red ink leaking out of him from somewhere.

Moments after that young man rushed by, a young lady came chasing after. The appearance of a gun in her hand made it clear then to any bystanders that something serious was indeed going on.

At some point while rapidly hobbling away from the school and tending to his invisibly bloodied gut, Max had taken notice to a distinct wetness riding down his left pant leg. At first he had thought it might have been his own blood, a prospect that horrified him. Then he actually smelled urine, looked down at his leg, and realized that he may have pissed himself, a prospect that mortified him.

_For God's sake, the crystal hides my blood, but not my piss?.! Where's the flipping logic in that?.!_

It had almost been enough to make him forget that Naraku was chasing after him, liberally firing in his direction. Despite that his wound was severely hampering his mobility, Max was still running faster than most any human could. Naraku, however, had already proven that she possessed superhuman strength, so it came to no surprise that she also possessed superhuman speed, and could not be outran

While the people in the streets did look at the scene with curiosity at first, they ran screaming for cover when they realized someone was shooting. It occurred to Max that someone would probably be hit by a stray bullet if he kept himself a target out in the open, so he at first tried to bound up to the top of a small building. When he actually attempted to jump, though, he yelped in pain and could only bring himself to jump a few meters in the air, very nearly slamming into the wall of the building he was trying to get on top of. Instead, he scrambled into the alleyway between in and the next edifice as another shot rang out against the brick meters from his head.

_Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ! If you're listening, HELP!_

Maybe someone up there was listening, because in the road on the other side of the alley, he saw his answer …or some twisted version of it anyway: an open manhole flanked by city workers. Max may have lost his ability to ascend as well as he usually could, but the forces of gravity assured that he could fall down just as well as he ever could. Crashing through the yellow tape and ignoring the angered shouts of the maintenance workers, Max dove right into the hole. It was clumsily done, as he scrapped against the sides of the vertical tunnel on his way down and slammed harshly into the shallow pool of sewage at the bottom. Still, instinct kept the pain from stunning him too long and he was soon on his feet, speeding down the dark, dank tunnels.

The sewer was nothing at all like those old Ninja Turtle cartoons had mislead him into believing. It absolutely reeked down there, which was doubly painful for him given his superior smelling capabilities. It was also much darker, and much narrower than he'd expected, meaning that in his haste he'd have no choice but to step in raw sewage. And despite the fact that he was running for his life, it still irritated him that he was messing up his new sneakers.

On the other hand, the stench of bodily excrements all over the place was a good way of covering up the fact that he'd gone in his own pants. Not that he exactly had anyone down here to impress, besides the lunatic presently trying to ventilate him with sparkling bullets.

_Well, if I am going to be die today, I could at least die knowing everyone else thinks that I overcame wetting myself when I was five._

One thing the sewers were, though, which he had been counting on, was complex. As he ran down the tunnels, he was presented with a new passageway or a new direction to flee into practically every five seconds. He zigzagged through them speedily and randomly, the echo of his footsteps ringing throughout the tunnels. It did seem like the perfect place in which to lose someone while running around like a scared ninny. Echoes of other footsteps besides his own were thundering throughout as well, though, leaving him no chance to doubt that she had indeed followed him down here.

**"NIKANARU!**" Came a raging roar, ringing deafeningly though hundreds of pipes and passageways. There was no question now that Naraku was some unnatural being…gone now was the vaguely seductive yet disturbing feminine voice she'd possessed when they'd first met, now replaced entirely with a rough, dark, distinctly masculine voice. The voice brought Max to a stop, and he listened carefully for any sort of sign that she was close by. He did hear footsteps, but they echoed just as unclearly as his had. The sewer was a double-edge sword in that it hid his position, but made his enemy's equally difficult to determine.

Although never having been in a cat-and-mouse, life-or-death situation before, he knew full well that just standing in one spot was a bad idea. Trying to keep his breathing level, his feet moved as quietly as possible down the tunnel, making sure to peep around the corners and listen as carefully as he could before moving on. There was perhaps a chance he could stealthily sneak away.

**"Do you understand the utter futility of all this?"** Her voice commandingly tore throughout the sewers. **"It's blatantly obvious you don't know what you're doing. You fight like an amateur, and you flee like a coward."** The anger perceived in the tone soon changed when a glint of humor boomed throughout. **"Ridiculous… After all this time I spent hunting you down, it seems a bit anticlimactic that all you turn out to be is a meek little demon content to emulate the pathetic traits of the humans you masquerade as."**

_Blow me dry, you raging sack of insanity!_ He had to keep all reprisals to her comments to himself. If he could manage to stay quiet and sneak off, put enough distance between the two of them, then he could find another manhole and escape entirely. Then…

…then what? What was he going to do?

**"Where's your pride, Inu-Demon? You would not come out to face this Naraku, even though all I possess is a mere human priestess' body?"** Although they echoed dominatingly around him, he ignored her words as much as he could. If she tracked him down and knew his identity, then there was a big, fat chance that she could just do it again. Only this time, she might attack him at his home…endanger the lives of his family. That was out of the question. Could he go to the police? Warn them that a raving psychotic was chasing after him, and maybe they'd protect him and his family? After all, she may be strong, but he doubted that she could single-handedly take on an entire S.W.A.T. team. **"Is this truly the last in the great legacy of the Inu?"**

_Wait…isn't she a cop?_ No, that couldn't be. While any knowledge he held of police was limited to the cop dramas he'd occasionally watch, he was pretty sure it was against policy to shoot a high-school student in his chair and then fire randomly into the streets. No, between that, her youth, and her plainclothes, the claim that she was a police officer had obviously been a lie she'd used on Ms. Nagasi in order to pull Max out of class and reveal him to her. So maybe it stood to reason that he could find some real police officers and get protection from them.

**"What are you even fleeing from? Perhaps you believe you can hide from me again?"** That was a risky notion, though. She seemed like the kind of super-villain from the movies that ate nondescript policemen for brunch until the heroic supercop came along to defeat her. Lives could very well be lost if he tried to involve someone else in this. **"Quite wrong. I've seen your face. I've felt your blood. You leave a trail a mile wide. You could run to the furthest reaches of this world and never escape your fate."**

_But they're cops, for Christ's sake! It's not like they didn't know the job was going to be dangerous. They're supposed to risk their lives for innocent citizens like me! _Still, involving himself with the authorities was one of the things he tried to avoid as much as possible. He didn't want to attract the attention of government officials who might dig a little too deeply in his partially falsified background. Once again, it came around to the possibility of Max being publicly outed as a non-human. That is, assuming Naraku hasn't already tipped other people off. Who's to say that she wasn't part of some group with other members who might come after him, even if she was taken out?

**"If you truly insist on acting like a coward and not fighting, then you could at least be logical, show yourself, and accept your fate. A fate which, I assure you, is inevitable."**

_Oh, for God's sake, you jackass, stop thinking so much! _He scolded himself as he snuck into another tunnel. _Just focus on the now. The person presently trying to kill you takes priority. When you're rid of her, then you can worry about what's going to happen next._

Several dozen minutes passed as Max snuck from passage to passage, hoping to be putting enough distance between himself and Naraku. However, no matter how far he fled, the sounds she made, and her booming voice never seemed to die off in the distance. He couldn't seem to lose her. She rambled endlessly on and on about his cowardice, and kept making references to "Inu" something or other. Dogs? Why the hell was she rambling on about dogs? Maybe he'd have found whatever she was alluding to somewhat intriguing in any other scenario, but survival was of the utmost priority. He was managing to stay ahead of her, it seemed, and he couldn't let himself get distracted by questions. What did really get on his nerves was that she seemed to have no problem blabbing on endlessly after this had been going on for an entire hour.

By then, Max had no idea where he was or where he was going. Most of the sewers looked the same to him, although he was sure he must have at least doubled back in a few tunnels given that he could find faint traces of his own scent as well as hers, and saw spots of his own blood. That was probably why he was having such a hard time losing her. Luckily Max could now move a little bit faster, since he was in much better shape than he had been an hour ago. His flesh healed fast, though he still felt the bullet inside him whenever he moved too much, like a piece of ice lodged in his internal organs. His right hand maintained a firm place on the spot, both because it was less painful if he kept pressure on it, and because he was trying to keep the bleeding to a minimum. And he still felt lingering traces of the burning sensation that "miko" energy had given him. By now, though, it didn't actually burn. Not painfully, anyway. It had died down to just…hot. Sweaty. The feeling was more akin to a hot flash, or a fever. And once again, despite the danger he was in, the subject caused Max's mind to wander.

_That's weird._ In this lesser state, Max realized that the effect the holy energy had on him was…familiar. He knew that sensation. He'd experienced it many times before in times past…of course, those times before had been much, much less intense than even what he was feeling right now, but whatever the degree it was at, Max knew the feeling was of the same kind…

_This…it feels like I do whenever I get sick._ Quite ironically, further thoughts on the subject were interrupted by a lack of interruption. Max now noticed that things had gone quiet in the last few minutes. Not quiet, as sewer sounds were still abundant, but portents of Naraku's presence had gone silent. Maybe he couldn't hear her because he'd lost her, but also possibly because something may have been drowning her out; there was the sound of water rushing, running, like a waterfall.

For lack of a better plan, Max decided to follow that noise. It's not like he had exactly been making any sort of progress by fleeing. Besides, whatever was causing that noise was dampening any sounds he made and, if there were an exit nearby, Max could make his escape. He continued on through several sewer mains, cautious still, following the sound as it got louder and louder. He also began to notice that the water flow beneath him was becoming stronger as he went on.

Sure enough, he rounded a final corner and found the tunnel coming to a cutoff into a large, circular drain room. Several other drainpipes and tunnels were converging here, dumping wastewater down further into a lower level pool several stories down, where it was being drained down. When sending sewage to the water treatment plant, most sewers were designed to send water flowing downward so that gravity did most of the work getting it there rather than expensive bilge pumps. And as brilliant a strategy as that may be with regard to efficient sewer design, it didn't help Max out one bit. He needed to go up, not down. Looking around, he saw no exit leading upwards. All he could do was scoff in frustration and turn around…

Face to face with the business end of a Beretta M9.

Max screeched as he instinctively jumped back, arms raised. When he almost lost his footing on the ledge of the tunnel, he found himself clumsily struggling to maintain his balance, eventually resulting in him falling to a kneeling position in the flowing sewage. That action painfully reminded him of the lead lodged in him, and he was forced to lower a hand to once again clutch himself. Naraku stood there, victorious smile on her face and obviously amused by her prey's show of weakness.

"On the other hand..." She had to shout in order to be even audible over the rushing water. "…it would have been far too boring if you'd have submitted too easily. I suppose I should thank you, Nikanaru." Immense fear and anxiety were coursing though him, but Max's anger still managed to get the better of him. It had been one of those days, after all.

"Why the Christ do you keep calling me that?.!" He demanded in a snarl. The arrogant smirk remained unmoved.

"It's your name, is it not?"

"NO, you lunatic! It's MAX!"

"Hmph." Eyebrows raised, she regarded him condescendingly. "Seems I overestimated you quite a bit. "

"Cunt…"

"Yes…I did. Perhaps your rejection of me really did have more so to do with that well's energies." Anger turned to shock as Max digested those last words.

"…what?"

"The well. The one we used to come here. I assume you know at least that much." Max regarded her with a stunned stare that seemed to have her answer. "Yes. Good."

"You're from…the past?.?" His tone now betrayed a genuine curiosity mixed in with his great fear. A whole rush of feelings he wasn't used to, individually or collectively.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. And no." She dared to approach him a by another step. "I was there with you when we entered this world. And I know that you knew I was there."

"I was… I was a baby when I came trough it." He growled at her, frustrated by the apparent lack of logic. "And I'm pretty sure someone would have told me if a psychotic bitch had been there, too.

"Let's get one thing perfectly clear." She spoke, sudden annoyance apparent. "I am a man." Conversation with this Naraku character seemed to have a tendency of catching Max off guard, be it from the sudden appearances of firearms, her knowledge of his secrets, or the daytime-talk-show style revelations.

"Well… my hat's off to whoever handled your sex change operation." He muttered, unable to really think of anything else to respond to that with.

_That's right, Max. Keep being a smartass when you're about to die._

"This is merely the body I was forced to infest. It was supposed to have been yours." She…or he replied, narrowing his eyes in anger. He cocked the gun and took a step toward Max. "And now it will be."

"What?" Defensively, Max took another step back, careful to not go over the edge again. He had to think of something. He had to buy himself some time.

_She…he likes to talk. Maybe if I can stall her…uh, him…_

"What do you mean, 'infest'?.?" He shouted. Unfortunately, Naraku wasn't going for it.

"Enough. You will understand everything when we are sharing a mind." He/she trained the gun's aim from Max's head to his stomach… Max's eyes went from focusing on Naraku's feminine face to the feminine finger around the not-so-feminine gun's trigger. "And seeing as how you seem recover from miko energy unnaturally fast, I won't hold back this time."

His heart jumped when he saw the muscles of that finger begin its first constrictions around the trigger. It was as though at that precise moment, Max knew he was going to die.

The whole world seemed to slow down around him…the sounds of the water flowing became low and distant, the air around him seemed to still and stagnate, and his own breath stopped cold. In that instant, his entire world was nothing but that single index finger on the trigger, watching as it moved agonizingly slowly, fraction of a millimeter by fraction of a millimeter, pulling the trigger back.

A feeling of a rush of adrenaline shivering up his lungs then hit him. It seemed to snap him out of his trace and he looked back up at the face of Naraku, then back down at the gun, which still hadn't fired.

_What the…? _It was ethereal…Max could literally see the finger in microseconds as it was moving…and so could he the flowing water around them. It was… it was like those times people claimed time seemed to slow down during catastrophes... no, it was even beyond that. Max could actually see the things going on around him in slow motion as his mind digested the information at what felt like a normal pace.

Whatever the rate of time, though, that finger was getting awfully close to pulling the trigger all the way back. Max made a split second decision then…

**"**_**RRRAAAA**-AAAAAAAIIIII-**IIIEEEEEEEE!"**_

Naraku's blood curdling scream brought time screechingly back to its proper chronological frame of pace. Max hadn't meant for his claws to shred right through his/her arm, but had been horrifyingly surprised at how easily they did. The scream emanating from Naraku was equally horrifying, as it seemed to switch pitches every split second between that of a roaring male and a screeching female. It was as though the two pitches fought for dominance of the scream. Either way, Naraku stumbled forth in shock, clutching his new stump. Red blood oozed from it horrifyingly, but even more disturbing were traces of dark, purple oozes tinted in with the crimson. Max barely registered any of this as he leaned over to the side of the tunnel, dodging Naraku's convulsing body as it staggered foreword, the shock of his decapitation disorienting him. Before he/she could regain his proper senses, his momentum was already sending him over the edge of the pipe. Max could only watch aghast as Naraku made a final attempt to reach the ledge with his remaining good hand, fail, and fall several stories below to the drain pool, making one haunting, final call:

"NI-**KA**-NAAAA-**RUUUU!"** Max had had to turn away before he saw his body hit the water. A few seconds passed where he waited for any other sounds. When the echoes of Naraku's screaming stopped bouncing off the walls, nothing remained but the familiar rushing of water. Max eventually peered over the edge again and saw nothing of any trace of his enemy.

The danger seemed to have passed, and the panic that Max had held back in the heat of the moment had now caught up with him. His breathing was coming in quick and short bursts as he rested himself against the circular wall of the tunnel. Reflexingly clenching his fists in and out, he was only reminded that the right one was now sticky with the red blood it had soaked in. Gurgling in disgust, he lowered it into the flowing stream, uncaring of the wastewater, scrubbing it as frantically as he could.

_Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. _

Pulling it out for inspection, he saw that most of the red was gone, although his hand was still filthy with whatever dirt had been in the flow. He gave it a few final shakes before grimly deciding that it would be sufficient.

_What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Jesus, she's dead! I…I killed someone!_ He gave another peek over the edge to find nothing still emerging from the pool. Given the rushing of the water going down into the water main, Naraku would surely have been pulled down and drowned by now, even with his superior strength. Yes, Max had indeed caused the death of another living being. The notion wasn't sitting at all well with him. If he had had any contents remaining in his stomach, he may very well have vomited them out by now. Violently turning away from the scene, Max marched away, forcing his legs to work despite the state of self-actualized terror his mind was in.

_Well, what choice did I have?.! She was going to shoot me! I mean… argh!.!_ Growling in utter frustration at his inability to justify it to himself, he just kept going. _Besides, I didn't kill her! I just dismembered her. The fall and the drain killed her! It was her own Goddam fault for being a fucking homicidal transsexual maniac!_ But there wasn't much else he could do but continue to debate his actions with himself as he wandered aimlessly. After another fifteen minutes, he at last came upon a manhole exit. With no particular feeling of victory or accomplishment, he climbed the ladder and opened it.

Lifting the heavy manhole was no problem, since the effect the miko energy had on him was all but gone. However, peeking through the cover, Max saw that it was in the middle of a fairly crowded, mildly trafficked street. As if appearing out of a manhole wasn't suspicious enough, there was also his ebony hemorrhage. The crystal did do a good job of hiding the blood whose dark stain contrasted starkly with his white shirt, though Max just had to make sure that it was no longer bleeding off of him. He'd kept pressure on it with his own hand for over an hour now, so that hopefully gave the blood a chance to congeal. Lifting his hand away from the wound, he waited a few moments to see if anything would still come out. After biding for a few moments, he satisfied himself that the hemorrhaging had stopped.

_Okay. So just real casual…real nonchalantly, lift up that cover, climb out and walk away._ After peeking again to make sure that the road was clear enough, he shoved the cover off and at last reveled in a breath of refreshing air that blew around his face. Pulling himself out, he was pleased to see that there were only about three people on this street at the moment, all of whom were giving him curious glances. Paying them no mind, he pulled the cover back over the manhole and walked off. Although his wound was no longer bleeding, he still kept one hand on it just to make certain, and to keep some pressure on the pain. To any onlooker, he just looked like some guy with a wicked stomachache.

_Now where the hell am I?_ It took a little while for Max to get his bearings. This was a part of Tokyo he wasn't too familiar with, but upon walking down a few streets he began to recognize a few notable landmarks. It was enough to give him a general idea of which direction he should start to head in.

_This is all going to be a hell of a thing to explain to Grandma._ Their worst worries had been unveiled. Someone had indeed recognized him on the evening news, and had come after him…violently. There had been times throughout his life where Max had really wondered if it would be all that bad if certain people knew about him…his friends for example. Even Souta had refused to let Asaki, the woman he was engaged to be engaged to, know the truth about Max. Had absolute secrecy been necessary?

Well, if today was of any indication, then the answer was a big, fat, giant, neon, glow-in-the-dark YES. Yes, he should keep his true nature hidden from anyone and everyone outside of his family. Clearly, there were people out there who would come after him and try to hurt him, just for being what he was. Lord knows why…granted Naraku had been some sort of psychotic, but the world had plenty of those on hand. And who knew if Naraku had only been one member of a particular group? Maybe someone else would come after him as well!

Furthermore, there were the odd things that Naraku had known…namely, about the well. Strange, though, that if he'd been hunting Max as he'd claimed and had simultaneously known about the well, that he wouldn't have just come directly to Max's home. The fact that the Higurashi Shrine had the Bone Eater's Well wasn't at all a hidden fact. It was even advertised just as any other historical exhibits they had there were. Furthermore, if Naraku had indeed come from the past…

_It's too fucking eerie. He knew too much to just be some escapee from an asylum for the criminally insane. I…ARRGHH!_

Although Max, in addition to many other superior qualities, had superior healing capabilities, that didn't change the fact that the bullet lodged in his gut still hurt like crazy. After all that running down below ground, his insides felt raw, like someone had been rubbing them with a cheese grater for the past hour. Just walking still hurt, and Max eventually had no choice but to lean against a wall and take a rest.

_Goddammit, I need to get this thing OUT._ Theoretically, he could dig into himself with his claws and extract it, but that would reopen a gash and blood would spill all over…not a wise thing to do in broad daylight.

_Maybe I can just ride the bus? _No, Max hadn't renewed his bus pass this month. To save on money, he'd taken to rooftop leaping to get to places. That, obviously, was no longer an option. And neither was the bus, as he'd already spent what money he'd had on cafeteria lunch earlier today.

_Wait…isn't this place…? _Taking a moment to look around at the street he was on, he felt some sense of familiarity. _Yeah, it is!_ This was not too far off from where Al lived. He could hopefully borrow her phone and call for Grandma or Great-Grandpa to come pick him up.

With a deep breath, he once again bit back the pain as he headed over to the apartment complex on 32nd, Shinjuku Street. He'd never actually been to her home before, but he'd seen her go into the building several times. It was 4:21 now, so she should be home.

_Not like she's got friends to go out with or anything. _He thought with some degree of pity. Entering the lobby, he searched for the Tanaka name on the index board and punched in the corresponding number. The speaker rang once…twice…three times.

_C'mon, be home, be home, be home…_ Finally, there was a click on the other end.

"_Yeah?"_ Came a bored reply.

"Al!" He exclaimed in relief. "Hey, it's Max."

"_Oh."_ Her reply seemed a little surprised. _"Uh…what d'ya want?"_

"Listen, can I come up for a few minutes? I need to use your phone."

"_Uh…" _There was clear hesitation in her reply. _"Actually, now's not a good time…"_

"Al, please!" He tried not to sound too pathetic, pleading as he did. "I really, really need to make a call, and I don't have any change for a phone booth or anything." He waited eagerly for her reply. A few seconds passed before she sighed.

"_Just…stay where you are. I'll bring you my cell."_ A mechanical click ended the conversation, and Max sighed a semi-victorious sigh as he carefully sat down on the bench. Clearly, she didn't want anyone else up there with her. Strange on its own, but not by her standards. Who knows, maybe she had something like a drug-lab up there. Pushing that thought aside, Max just thanked God that a phone was at least coming his way. Drumming his fingers patiently against his jeans, he watched with some passing interest as a couple and their kid entered the lobby. Wanting to be as inconspicuous as possible, he gave them a polite wave, which they returned.

"HOLY SHIT!" Both his and their attentions were snappily diverted to Al, as she'd opened the lobby door and stared agape at Max. "What the hell happened to you?.!"

"U…Uh?" Her stare was of wide-eyed horror. Max wondered what on earth could be so shocking to her. "Oh! I, uh, got a little dirty. That's all." He explained, hoping that she was referring the filth he'd rolled in underground.

"No, I mean THAT. Is that blood?.?" She shouted, pointing directly at his stomach. Panicking, Max looked down and saw…nothing. The bloody stains on his shirt were still invisible…weren't they? He looked back up at Al, who still looked aghast. He then turned to the other people watching the exchange…they appeared just as confused as he was.

_What the Christ?_ Max looked again to check his shirt. Then at his reflection in the glass door…nothing. The crystal was working! So what the hell was Al seeing?

"There's nothing on…" He had intended to firmly deny what she was getting at, but was interrupted when he unexpectedly went into a coughing fit. Grimly, Al put the cell phone into her pocket and pulled him up by his sleeves. "Hey…OW!"

"God, come on up…I've got some of my dad's medical stuff here." She left no room for argument, and Max wasn't in the kind of condition where he could offer much resistance. If he hadn't been so perplexed with everything going on, he might have noticed for the first time how posh this apartment complex was. The elevator he was shoved into had mirrored doors, so Max could once again conform that his blood was NOT showing up. So why was Al staring at it like it was?

"Where did that come from?" She inquired.

"Where did…what come from?"

"The blood on your goddamed shirt!" She yelled at him. As if to exemplify her point, she dared to jab a finger at it. Max instantly winced in pain. "Are you delirious from blood loss or something?"

"I…" The elevator dinged and the doors opened before Max could further stutter. More gently this time, she led him by his hand down the hall and to her apartment door. Her I.D. card swiped across the scanner, a green light indicating her success, and the door clicked open.

_Woah. _As if he didn't have enough distractions coming from every which direction today, when Max entered Al's home, he became privy to one of the most finely furnished places he'd ever seen. Her place looked exactly like the perfect photos in those furniture catalogues…spotless white walls, leather couch, a T.V. with a screen almost as wide as his room, and a stereo system that looked like it could power a KISS concert.

"Here." She manoeuvred him over to said leather couch. He may have protested that his blood, not to mention the filth all over him, was going to ruin the upholstery, but that would mean admitting that he was bleeding at all. Unable to think of anything else, he just allowed himself to plomp down onto the pleasntly comfortable cushions. "Hold on. I'll be back in a second."

_I just wanted a phone. A Goddam phone. Why does everything today have to be so difficult? _Her return was heralded with the contents of the kit in her hands clanging around.

"Okay, take off your shirt." She instructed as she kneeled down in front of him.

"…what?"

"Your shirt." Whatever sympathy she had had not long ago had been quickly replaced with her more characteristic annoyance. "Take if off."

The moment became one of curiosity for Max, then. Staring at his reflection one more time in the screen of that obscenely huge television, he assured himself that the crystal was hiding his blood from plain sight. After a moment's hesitation, his curiosity got the best of him and his overcoat was shrugged off. Still staring at Al, gauging her reaction, Max carefully pulled the shirt off himself, making sure the crystal didn't get pulled off as well.

Her reaction was a wide-eyed gasp when his chest was exposed.

"Oh, God!" She cringed as she readied a moist towelette. "That looks pretty bad." Max looked back up. Reflection? Still nada on the injury. "Okay, lean back against the seat and just relax your stomach. This might sting a little." Gently as she could, she began wiping away at his abdomen. It did sting, but he grinned and bore it all the same. What was more interesting to him, though, was the way her towelette seemed to be wiping at nothing, and then when she pulled it away from him, a dark, rusty substance appeared on it.

_No effin' way._

Max had to be sure of something. His tail, previously nestled behind him as he sat down, shimmied out from his back and carefully manoeuvred it between himself and Al. He observed the focus of her eyes carefully as he pointed its tip a few inches from her face. She stopped what she was doing and pulled her head back a little. Experimentally, he swished his tail gently from side to side.

Her eyes followed it.

_You have GOT to be fucking with me._

"Al?" The words came slowly out of his mouth, as if he were afraid of breaking something with them. "What…what do you see when you look at me?" She stared back at him right in the eyes. Her hesitation was equally evident.

"I'm…uh, pretty sure I don't see what everybody else does." When she saw his surprise, she turned away almost shyly.

"What do you mean?.?" Insistently leaning in closer, ignoring the sharp ache that entailed, he had to be sure of this. "Exactly what is it you see?" She stared back at him a moment before she stood up and went over to her backpack. Pulling out one of her sketchbooks, she kneeled back down in front of Max and flipped through the pages. Arriving on the desired one, she offered it to him.

"I see this." Max grasped the book and glanced at it.

…and looked right at a pencil sketching of himself in full demon form.

_Well, this has been just about the most peculiar day of my life._

_ **End Chapter 6

* * *

**  
_

**A/N: …and it's going to get even worse. HA!**

**Serious action scenes are much tougher to write than I initially expected. And because there are going to be a few more of those along the lines, I'm thinking I need to do some research…study the greats. Just going "He grabbed his…and the she kicked him in the…" feels horribly monotonous. Ick.**

**Also, while I do like to keep things well researched instead of just making up bullshit about things I don't fully understand, chances are I did fuck up a fact or two with regard to sewers. I did research, but there's so much fucking variety in between one city's sewer system to the next, I could almost throw anything out there and be right. And given that I've seen a Tokyo subway system map, which is fucking crazy complicated, I'm willing to bet the sewage system is as well.**

**Tschuess, folks.**

**Koday.**


	7. Dual Exposition

**Previous Chapter Illustration:**

(Remember…copy, paste, then close the spaces.)

**www. deviantart. com /view/ 22454867/**

Ha-HA! Max gets revenge for the pain that same off-screen hand gave him last time! Granted, he didn't do that on purpose, and feels kinda bad about it…oh well.

…

(Suddenly smacks self in head) Holy Canseco, I FORGOT the TAIL! Damnation!

**Nikanaru**

**Chapter 7:**

Dual Exposition 

_Or_

Tension…Tension Broken…Tension Regained…Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

* * *

**Eleven Years ago**

They had decided that she would go to school in Japan for half the year, then finish up the rest in Mexico and stay there for summer vacation. It was, after all, sunnier there, and thus a perfect place for a little girl to run around and play. It had been a compromise, as her father had originally wanted her to go to school in Japan full-time, but her mother had argued that she didn't want her daughter to lose touch with her Mexican heritage. In the end, they both decided that a broad, international educational experience would be best. Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't afford spur-of-the-moment plane tickets if ever something came up.

Regardless, here Alexandria Matsuko Valdez Tanaka sat, her first day of primary school, excited as all get out. For as long as she could remember in her short life, her father had been lecturing her on the empowering aspect of a strong education. He'd told her that school would be the tool that would give her the power to do anything she ever wanted in life. He'd told her all about how studying hard and being a good student had enabled him to attain his hailed position as one of the world's foremost surgeons. Doctor Tanaka commanded wide respect in the international community, having appeared in several magazines and news programs for his general expertise and for his revolutionary new surgical techniques and procedures. He traveled all over the world, giving lectures and forums to fellow doctors and aspiring med students.

But of all those people, it was his own daughter, Alex, who admired him more than anyone. She wanted to be like him. She wanted that same respect, that same glory, that same life. So now that she had graduated pre-school and found herself at last in a serious educational institution, she couldn't wait to begin her scholarly experience. She'd even studied with a private tutor over the summer to ensure that she'd be absolutely ready for everything and anything that could possibly happen here.

But for what she was expecting, it was a little less intimidating than she'd anticipated. The room she was seated in had somewhat childish decorations on the walls, posters of basic alphabets and kanji, little cartoon characters adorning the textbooks…the whole thing felt much less serious than she was expecting. But still, she couldn't wait for things to get started. Already she had her pencil case out and on her desk, had several sheets of looseleaf at the ready, and had her hands clasped respectfully over the desk. She had been prepared for this long before she'd even gotten up this morning.

Then, she saw something she most unquestionably hadn't been expecting. And it had nothing to do with the educational experience.

A nervous looking boy walked into the classroom. Alex's eyes went wide the split second she saw him uneasily creep through the classroom door. Her hands unclasped, her gaze trailed him, stupefied as he made his way over to the teacher and, like any other typical student, gave her his name and headed over to his assigned seat. As he made his way to his seat a few rows across from her, he looked around the room nervously, like an animal suddenly confronted with the unfamiliar.

At that moment, Alex felt a bit the same way. Her young mind wasn't quite sure what to make of this…the boy that she was staring at was about the oddest looking thing she'd ever laid eyes on. First of all, his hair was a platinum, silvery shade, which, while rare, was not unheard of. What was unheard of, though, was that the color of his hair matched the color of what appeared to be his…tail?

She blinked again and again, trying to rationalize what she was seeing. His face had these red stripes on it and what looked like a matching crescent moon on his forehead. At first she though that it must have been face paint, but those markings looked like they were right in his skin…like a tattoo or a birthmark. Not at all like some of the sloppy maquillage she'd sometimes gotten at festivals back in Mexico. His ears were pointy, too…like an elf, or like those aliens on "Star Trek." She supposed that they could be just makeup too, but they looked so darned real. They even seemed to twitch occasionally. But of all these things, what stood out most was the tail…

Because he'd kept this tail on his shoulders, she considered at first that it was some sort of fuzzy boa. A downright strange fashion statement, but she'd been taught that different cultures had different traditional garb that should be respected. However, that belief was quickly thrown out the window when she saw the "Boa" actually move on its own. When the teacher had welcomingly patted him on the shoulder, it had pulled itself out of the way, and then had rested itself back again when her hand had left. Then when the boy went to sit down, his tail folded itself into a small cushion behind his back. Even though it was thick and fluffy, it had squished down almost flat when his back pressed it against the seat. Sort of like those Persian longhair cats who appear enormous when they're dry, but when they get wet and their fur is flat against their skin, you can see that they're really less than half that size.

She couldn't stop staring at him. Her parents had explained to her long ago about how there were different kinds of people in the world, which is why she herself looked a little different from her friends in Mexico as well as from her friends in Japan. They had told her all about how there are various ethnicities…people with different skin colors, different facial features, different hair types, and so on…but not once did they ever mention people with tails and pointy ears. This boy didn't even look like a person. She could almost swear he wasn't even human!

Strange thing was, no one else seemed to be paying the boy any mind. Not a single other person in the classroom was giving him the same curious stares that Alex was. They all just passed him by or casually looked at him as if there was nothing unusual at all. Was there something wrong with them? Or was there something wrong with her? Or maybe he was just a different kind of person…another ethnicity she hadn't come across yet. She'd have to ask her parents about it when she got home tonight.

She had been taught that there is no real fundamental difference between people of different ethnicities and that everyone was equal…but danged if she didn't wish she could have such an adorable, poofy tail like that! And those long ears could probably carry a lot of pretty earrings…what on earth was he?

Just then, the boy looked right back at her. Alex almost gasped when she got a good look at his eyes…the pupils looked a bright yellow-gold color, like nothing she'd ever seen. It was…captivating. She couldn't take her eyes off them, and was almost completely oblivious to the look of annoyance on his face.

Finally, the boy upped the ante when he stuck his tongue out at her.

Knocked out of her admiring trance by such an insulting gesture, Alex angered and rasberried him right back.

He retorted by pulling on the sides of his mouth.

Alex reprised by pulling up her nostrils.

With his thumbs, the boy stretched at his eyelids.

Alex shoved her pinky up her nose.

"Good morning class!" The teacher finally announced, making both Alex and the boy ten-hut themselves into a respectful, no funny-faced seating at their desks.

"Good morning, teacher." The whole class replied in unison, as their parents had taught them.

* * *

**Present**

She witnessed several emotions flashing across those eyes at once when he bore witness to that sketch: Shock, confusion, dread, fear, guilt…but mostly shock. The sheer strength of his reaction, though, had at least allowed her to finally confirm that she had not, in fact, been hallucinating all these years. He wouldn't have acted like that if her drawing had represented something confusing and alien to him…no, he quite clearly recognized what he was looking at, and was clearly shocked that someone else had as well. She almost wished she hadn't, though, as he quite obviously wasn't taking it well.

"Since…when?.!.?" Max finally queried in a voice that betrayed a little of his panic.

"Since…uh…always." Al quietly answered, Max's agitation worrying her.

"Always?.? What's always?" He wasn't angry, but he was certainly quite unnerved, and her quiet voice was clearly doing nothing to pacify him.

"Since the day I met you! You…you've always looked like that." She shot back, pointing toward the sketchbook Max was still holding in a nervous, vice-like grip, his claws digging into several layers of paper.

"Since we were kids." He clarified. She nodded. "I looked like this."

"Right."

"The ears?"

"Right."

"The claws?"

"Uh-huh."

"The stuff on my face?"

"Yup."

"The…tail?"

"Pretty hard to miss that one." Max paused.

_Actually, it should be._

"Okay." A sharp intake of breath indicated his attempt to collect himself. "Now, tell, me…" He continued in a disturbingly calm voice. "…does anybody else see this?"

_Is this some ongoing joke that's been going on behind my back all this time?_

"Not…as far as I know." She answered as delicately as she could, as if expecting the wrong key note to send him over the edge.

"And…to my recollection, you've never brought this up in conversation before."

"No." She said flatly.

"Well, how is that, exactly?" He was getting panicky again. "How have you not said anything if this is what you've been seeing all these years?.!"

"What was I supposed to do?" She defensively leaned back a little. "Just randomly drop in a conversation, "Oh, by the way, Max, when I look at you, you look like some sort of elf-squirrel thing.'?" Max paused.

"Well…that would have been a start." He grumbled as he sat back. "Waitaminute…'elf-squirrel'?.?"

"Yeah, that's…that's what you looked like to me at first."

"Oh." Max relaxed his grip on the sketchbook a little, which had become so taught in his hands he was on the verge of accidentally ripping it in half. Now that it was mentioned, his tail did sort of bear a resemblance to a squirrel's.

_Dammit._

"So…" Al continued on slowly. "I take it by your reaction that…you DO, in fact, look like that? And that I am not crazy?" He waited a moment before answering, wondering that maybe he could still convince her that she was just hallucinating. Maybe he could wave his tail in front of her face and fool her into thinking she'd just been hypnotized into seeing the demon before her.

_Sure, brainiac. Hypnotize her with the very tail you're trying to make her believe isn't real._

"Y-yeah. I mean, yes…I do." He at last confessed, leaning back into the couch in defeat.

They're eyes remained locked, just as they had the day they met over a decade ago, neither of them quite sure what they were supposed to do now. Each one had just revealed to the other a secret that they'd been keeping for over a decade. Both had exposed themselves, and both felt extremely uncomfortable, nervous…vulnerable, even. What was worse, though, was the utter silence and motionlessness…awkwardly pregnant pauses in conversation were one of the things Max could stand least of all. Almost involuntarily, he chose to break it.

"You made my cheeks look fat." He muttered as he glanced over the sketch again. Probably not the greatest of icebreakers, but it seemed to do the job, as she gave an ever-so-slight tug at the side of her lips before she leaned foreword and continued cleaning the blood off of him. "Uh, seriously, though…" He continued. "…if this is what you've seen since you met me, why, exactly, did you not ever say anything?"

"I dunno." She whispered as she got a new, cleaner towelette.

"You…don't know." That was to believe. "Uh, pardon me, but if it were me, and I was seeing something like...this…" He once again motioned toward the drawing. "…I'd be screaming about it to everyone I know at the top of my lungs."

"Really?" She gave him a dubious look back. "You'd try and convince people you could see a…I dunno what the hell you're supposed to be…but some inhuman being? That it seems to be invisible or something to everyone in the world except you? You'd to get people to seriously believe that without getting hauled of to a psychiatrist or a mental institute?" That gave Max some pause for thought. She did bring up a hell of a point there.

"Still." He maintained. "I just… can't believe you've been seeing this and never said anything."

"Well, when I first saw you, I was just a dumb kid…" She said, careful to wipe gently at his sore abdomen, despite her growing nervousness. "You looked pretty weird to me, but since no one else freaked out around you, I figured you must've just been ethnic or something."

"Ethnic?.?" He would have laughed if it didn't quite literally hurt to do so. "Ethnic people don't have fangs, claws, or tails." He stated obviously. "You're sixteen. I'm assuming you've figured that out sometime between now and then."

"Well, yeah. Eventually, I did. And I did try asking my parents about it, but they though I was talking about a cartoon or something when I asked them about elf-squirrels." She pulled back, now having cleaned up everything except the gash where the blood had been flowing. "I dunno. I guess between the fact that I'd already gotten used to you by the time I realized something was wrong, and the fact that I couldn't back up my claims with any proof, I just decided to let it be."

"Let it be?"

"Well, yeah. You act normal." She raised an eyebrow in reaction to her own words. "Well, not 'inhuman' normal, anyway." She corrected. "You aren't feeding on the flesh of virgins or anything, as near as I could tell. And anytime I looked at photos of you, you looked perfectly human in them. So I just figured…y'know, why not leave well enough alone?"

"I…" He wasn't sure what to say. He was just…amazed. How anyone without a personal stake in it could keep a lid on something as massive as this was, in his mind, unthinkable. That she knew about him, saw his as he was, and never said a thing to anyone…he was just amazed…

…and yet, simultaneously embarrassing and disappointing. It was like doing a stupid, embarrassing dance in a closed room when you think you're alone and safe, only to discover that someone else had been hidden in there all along and saw everything.

"How come you never said anything to just me?" He finally asked.

"Like I said…I dunno." She sighed, looking down as she applied some disinfectant to the wound. "I just got…kinda used to it. Pretty soon, I just stopped noticing. Hell, I haven't even thought about it at all before yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah, you know…you showing up all over the news over that incident at the bridge." A flash of memory surfaced in Max's mind, followed closely by a second one when he remembered the strange way Al had been staring at him earlier today.

"You knew that was me?"

"Well, yeah. Usually, for some reason, when I see you in photos or in a mirror, you look totally human." She said motioning towards their reflection in the television, where Max still looked homo sapient, and it looked like Al was applying a bandage over unmarred skin. "Then last night, I see you on the news, looking exactly like you do when I see you. And for once, everybody else saw you that way, too."

"Oh…yeah… Hey, that's right!" His fingers began playing with the crystal around his neck as he pondered. "Why the hell didn't this work on you, then?.?"

"Huh?"

"It's…uh…" Trailing off, he carefully wondered whether he should explain this to her.

_C'mon, she is your friend…or tolerable acquaintance, anyways. If she really has kept quiet about you for all these years, then it probably wouldn't hurt to let her in on a few other things. Besides, you need to figure out why the crystal won't work on her._

Or, even if he try to explain things, how he could get her to believe it? Al was an atheist, and a staunch one at that…how exactly was he going to explain magic to her? Particularly when he himself had such a feeble grasp of how it worked?

"Do you believe in the…um, occult?"

"Sure, why not?" She shrugged at him. "I'm looking at an example of it right now, aren't I?"

_Oh. Right._ The number of smacks he'd wanted to give to his forehead were growing steadily.

"Actually, while we're on the topic…" She continued. "What, exactly, are you?"

"Heh." Suddenly, a glint of some long-lost humor was seen in his eyes. "Short answer, or long answer?"

"Uh…short, I guess." He leaned in and stared at her dead on, as if daring her to doubt him.

"Demon." Grinning at her reaction, she was clearly tempted to.

"Uh…okay then, I'm actually gonna need the long answer."

"Well, the long answer is gonna disappoint you." He explained with a widening grin. "…because it's a long story and its filled with holes. And at the end, the conclusion is going to turn out to be: 'Actually, I don't know.'"

"I… see." She remarked, taking a deep breath. In doing so, however, she wrinkled her nose and was reminded of something she'd been pushed to the back of her mind up until now. "Okay, I know this is radically changing the subject, but you really smell like a sewer."

_Oh, shit._ Thought Max, completely unaware of the pun he'd just made.

"Where have you been?"

"A sewer." Blurting it out casually, he didn't realize until a second later how utterly bizarre that would sound on top of everything else.

"Wow." Al slowly got up, shaking her head. "So…I suppose there is a lot more to you than I guessed." She supposed, referring to her previous assumption that he mostly behaved normally.

"Actually, it's just been a really, really odd day." He tried to assure her. "Trust me, you just caught me at a very bad time."

"Sure." She shrugged. "Uh…so how's that gash?" For the first time, he really took notice of the patchwork Al had been doing on his abdomen. Not a bad job…

…_except she patched right over the bullet you neglected to mention was still in there, you fucking genius._

_Actually, it might be best to let her think that it's just a gash. She's already a little nervous, and'd probably freak out if I tell her I've been shot._

"Not bad. It looked a lot worse than it actually was." Fangs bared amicably as he smiled his deceitful smile at her. "And besides, I heal fast."

"Great." Apparently, she swallowed it. "So…um…what did you need to make a call for anyways?"

"Oh, crap! Grandma!" Worry struck the demon's face once again, wanting to smack himself (again) for forgetting what he'd come here for in the first place. "Uh…phone?" She reached into her pocket and passed him her cell. "Thanks."

_God Damn, it's one of those insanely tiny ones._ Phones this small also had such small buttons that he had to use the tip of his claws to dial them. As a practice of habit, he shielded the pad of the phone from her vision while he dialed, so that she couldn't see the invisible claws tapping butto…_wait…heh, I guess I don't have to do that with her now._ With a somewhat embarrassed look in response to her perplexed one, he flipped the phone back down and finished dialing. Interpreting this as an implicit request for privacy, Al shuffled off to a room in the back with a "hmph". He hadn't exactly wanted to offend her, but also decided not to correct her. He had a lot he needed to tell Grandma…things he preferred not to share with Al as of just yet.

"Hello?" The cell apparently had great reception, as Sakura's voice came in crystal clear.

"Hi, Grandma…" Sakura's answer returning his attentions to the phone, Max's voice suddenly died when he remembered exactly why he'd wanted to call her…

"Oh, hello, Max. What's going on?"

"Uh…" The demon drew a complete blank. His mouth opened and closed, trying to find the words he wanted, but found that no matter what he tried to say, a sudden fear was keeping him from saying it…

"Max?…Max, are you there?"

"Y-yeah. I…just though you should know…"

_I just thought you should know that today, someone recognized me on T.V., tracked me down and tried to kill me. I've been shot and shot at, I almost died, I decapitated and killed another living creature, and I just found out the crystal doesn't work on everyone. So almost everything you've been deathly afraid of, everything you cried over and became miserable just thinking about…it all just happened today._

"…that I'm over at Al's. I'll…uh, be home later."

"Oh. Okay, but be sure to be back by six thirty, okay?" He cringed at how her overly cheerful voice contrasted starkly with the incredible worry in his mind.

"…Yeah. Sure….uh, see you then."

"Have fun." A digital beep indicated the call's end. His eyes closed and he gave a very careful sigh as he flipped the phone shut, almost wanting to slam it into his forehead until it shattered into little cellular pieces. So he'd chickened out and lied to Grandma, one of the few people in the world he could ever be completely honest with. Just like he was still keeping things from Al... Why?

_Because you don't want to see Grandma cry again. Because you don't want to lose friends…even if it is Al. _

_FUCK!_

_Okay, just stay calm, buddy. You just…you need to think. You can get the bullet out on your own, later on, and with the bandage under your shirt, no one will know anything. You just need time to collect yourself, calm down, and think. You need to consider everything. If you just blurt it all out to Grandma, she'll go crazy. You can tell her later on when you've got a better idea about what you're going to do…about this, about Al…I just some time to think about it._

"Ahem" His eyes fluttered back open to Al, who had a glass of water handy. Gratefully accepting it, as he was a pit parched, the clear liquid was downed in no time. "So, what happens now?"

"I go home and get some rest, I guess." He shrugged.

"I meant to me." She corrected. He looked up at her icy gaze, confused.

"How should I know? Whatever you were planning on doing tonight."

"You're not going to do anything to me?"

"Uh…like what?"

"Well…now you know that I know your secret. You're not going to do anything?" The confusion in Max's head knew no bounds at this moment.

"What do you mean? What can I do?"

"You're not gonna try and shut me up, threaten me or anything?" An aghast, then offended state crossed the demon's features. It wasn't intended to come out as a growl, but it almost did.

"Jesus, no! Christ, Al, I'm still the same person you've known all there years!"

"Really? That's too bad." She deadpanned. The anger left him as he blinked a couple of times, astounded by the notion that she was actually trying to be funny. "I find it hard to believe you're not all that worried about this. You're just going to get up and leave, like nothing's wrong?"

"I'm…worried, sure, but…well, you're not going to tell anybody, right?"

"Not like anyone'd believe me."

_Oooh, you'd be surprised._

"Point." He admitted. "Can we talk about this some other time? I really need to go home and get some rest." He asked carefully, gauging her reaction. "I promise I'll tell you everything later on, okay? …Well, everything that I know."

"That you know?" She echoed inquisitively.

"Yeah, like I told you, I'm not a hundred percent sure what I am either. It's a long, crazy story. It'd take me a few hours to…gark!" In an attempt at hauling himself up, he unleashed a slow, long grunt. Al's hand reached out to his shoulder to stop him.

"You're just gonna walk home in that condition?"

"I…oh, dammit!" His hand made a quick, but stingingly painful smack against his forehead, finally following through on his promises to himself. "I forgot to ask for a lift home!" His thumb whipped open the cell again, only to be stopped by Al's hand.

"Don't bother. I can drive you."

"You've got a…car?"

"Well, the one my dad left here." She explained. "That okay with you?" There was some hesitation, but now that he thought about it, Grandma would be less suspicious if the normally peak-health demon who bounded rooftops didn't ask for a ride home.

"If you're offering, then yeah. Sure."

"Okay. But…one thing…" She motioned toward a room in the back. "…my dad'll have a fit if the car smells like excrement, so why don't you go take a quick shower?"

"Uh…" Glancing at his bandage, he couldn't help but question her armchair medical expertise. Showers weren't a great thing to have after freshly applying bandages.

"Don't worry." Holding out a hand for him to get up with, she was apparently reading his mind. "Those are some of those newfangled ones that don't lose their adhesiveness in water. The gel holding that on even has some disinfectant and blood-gelling stuff on it. Your gash won't get wet."

"O-kay." Stretching his hand out, she helped pull him up, and he suppressed the wince he felt coming when the bullet scraped against his insides further.

"That is, if you're feeling well enough to. I could just have the car cleaned out." He would have agreed to that, but an idea struck him.

"No, actually, a shower'd be…great."

* * *

The tub was as fancy as the rest of the place. It had detachable showerhead, had about a dozen different setting and switches, and could probably spit water in tune with techno music, just for the hell of it. There was even one of those bathroom flatscreens hooked up on the side...it was nuts. Half of this stuff wasn't even necessary. Max had never imagined that bathrooms could be pimped, but if they could, this was an excellent example of it. 

It did feel kind of weird to get naked and bathe in such an unfamiliar place, but he figured that on top of every other thing that had happened today, this was nothing major. Besides, he really did want to get clean. But most of all, it gave him the perfect opportunity to extract the bullet in secrecy.

_Jesus, that thing is on tight!_ He growled as he meticulously peeled off the bandage little by little, doing so while facing away from the water flow so that the adhesive didn't get wet. As long as he was careful, he could just place it back on afterwards. _Amateur self-surgery. Oh, boy._

The bullet wasn't in too deep. Max had a thick hide, otherwise it would have probably gone right into a vital organ. Instead, it was only about four or five centimeters deep…he could probably dig it out. It would hurt like crazy, but the hole was already there, and going to a hospital wasn't a viable option. It was actually pretty lucky that Al had cleaned up the area so Max could see where he should aim his digit.

_Here goes._ Closing his eyes, Max slowly, carefully pushed his index finger in. It hurt like a bastard, sure, to have raw muscle pushed up against like that; but it wasn't much compared with the pain he'd had when he first been shot. Holding his breath, he slid it in until a little past his second knuckle, when he felt the tip of his claw brush up against something solid. Carefully, he slid the tip over the bullet and slowly began pulling it back. Finally, when he pulled his finger out completely, the bullet slid out and jingled against the porcelain surface of the tub.

Breathing again, Max reexamined the wound…he'd reopened it, but it was only bleeding a little. The shower would clean it off, and he could just dry it and put the bandage back on. Within a few hours, it would feel just fine. Hell, by the time he'd washed himself off and stepped out of the tub, just moving at all felt much easier.

_It's like taking that first piss after recovering from a venereal disease. …Not that I'd know, damn it all. _

Satisfied with his work, he stepped out and began toweling himself off. But then there was the problem of his sopping wet tail…if this had been his house, he would have just gone outside and shaken off it off, but given that that wasn't an option here, he instead placed it in the shower, closed the curtains and shook it in there. Wrapping himself up in said towel, he considered his clothes…they were still damp from sewage water, still filthy, and the shirt still had his blood on it.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Max scrambled to put the bandage back on as he stammered a reply.

"Yeah?"

"Hey." Al called from the other side of the door. "Uh, I figure your clothes must be pretty crappy right now, so I got you a few of my dad's old clothes."

"Oh! O-okay."

"You decent?" At that, he secured the towel around his waist a little tighter.

"Sure." The door opened just a crack, and she passed them through…a red tee shirt, some jeans, a pair of socks and some boxers. With a grateful grunt, he grabbed them.

"I'm not sure if they'll fit you. You and my dad look about the same size, though." She called again as he tried them on. "Do you need a belt?"

"No, it's cool." They actually fit quite snugly. Well, the pants and shirt, anyways. The boxers…Max was more of a briefs kind of guy, but…

…_As much as I don't like my junk free and flapping around, I can't exactly afford be picky right now._ His soiled clothes were gathered into some plastic grocery bags, and the two left for the downstairs parking garage.

There was still an uneasy silence from the elevator to the car. Maybe because Max had already stated that he'd prefer to talk about everything later on, and that put a big, giant gag on everything Al had on her mind right now. But Max really did want to have a chance to think things through before he told her anything else. It had to be delicately, carefully, and tactfully done.

Then he saw the car.

"Mother of the living fuck!" Echoed throughout the garage. She turned to give him the stink eye as other people in the garage gaped at the violation of their virgin ears. "Is that…"

"A Porshe 2019 Radiance, blah, blah. Now get in." She hissed as he grabbed him by the sleeve and shoved him into the automatically opened passenger side door.

"Ow! Christ, injured party, here!" He snarled at her.

"You said it was worse than it looked." She huffed back at him as she entered the driver's side.

"What's your problem? I'm sorry I swore in front of all those guys, but since when do you care what people think about you?"

"I don't." The ignition started up and she expertly backed out.

"Then what are you so pissed off about?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"No, c'mon, seriously. I'm sorry."

"Whatever." She ignored him completely as she drove out of the building and onto the streets. He just laid his head to rest against the seat in exasperation.

_Well, it's almost nice to see that this whole thing hasn't changed her disposition._ More silence ensued as they drove along, tension growing with each number of blocks they went down on their way to the shrine. Occasionally, Max would peek over at Al, only to see that she was still giving her driving her undivided attention…although her gaze remained steely and uncompromisingly Al.

Then he would peek at the dashboard, as the sudden sharp turn almost sent his face flying right into it.

"Woah! Bastard of a turning radius on this!" Al simply grunted in response, checking behind her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She insisted. Unbelieving, Max twisted his head around just in time to see those Goths she occasionally hung around with.

"Hey, were you trying to get away from them?" She scoffed before answering.

"Just didn't want them to see me in this thing."

"Why? This is a friggin' Radiance! It's top of the line!" True…automotive magazines around the world hailed it as one of the best looking and best performing cars of the year. It was a total babe-magnet, or, in a given scenario, an excellent way of making friends.

"That's the whole problem." She grumbled.

"Why?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"No really…what's the problem?"

"I said forget it!" Grunting, Max glared off to the front. They were still a good ten-minute drive from the shrine. No real sense in spending the rest of the drive in uncomfortable silence.

"I once killed a cat." She very nearly swerved off the road at that.

"Wh-what?.!"

"See, when I was about two…" He continued. "…we used to have this cat named Buyo. Cute kitty and all, but the fattest fucking animal you've ever seen." His arms relaxed behind his back in reflection. "Now, I don't remember it very well, but apparently, I was in my room, playing with some toys on my bed, and my tail was, k'know, swishing around. And you know how cats always attack dangling string, right?" The stony expression on her face had long gone, left with utter perplexion. "So he snuck up behind me, and just pounced my tail. Sunk his claws and teeth right into it. Me, I just spun around so effin' fast that the cat, still holding on to my tail, went flying right out the window. And the damn thing never let go of my tail, like it was hanging onto it for dear life. Now, when I saw this cat was fat, I mean it weighed more that I did back then. His weight and momentum actually dragged me through the window with it!"

"Bullshit."

"No. Ask my Great Grandpa." He insisted. "Anyway, so it's a two story drop right? So I'm screaming my head off, I'm thinking I'm about to die. Now maybe this was instinct, but apparently, I tried to land on my hands." Exemplifying this, he stuck his arms out foreword. "But see, the thing was, the cat was right below me. And me, I've got these." He curled his fingers to indicate his claws. Al's jaw dropped.

"You didn't…"

"Well, not on purpose…"

"That's sick!"

"It was an accident!"

"It's still horrible!"

"He was old! He was, like, 14. And fat. It's a miracle he even lasted that long."

"Did he at least die painlessly?"

"Well…Great Grandpa says so. He said he came running when he heard me screaming, and just saw me crying on the ground, and Buyo wasn't even moving. Like I said, I was two, so I can hardly remember." After waiting a moment, Al released one hand from the wheel, waving around to exemplify her confusion.

"Why…why would you even tell me something like that?.?"

"That's my big, dark secret." He explained. "Of all the things I can tell you about me not being human, that's the worst. So there, it's out of the way."

"Uh…alright."

"So now tell me what the deal is with you and this car."

"Excuse me?.!"

"I told you a personal secret, and one of my worst ones at that, now you tell me yours."

"Woah!" She snapped, offended. "You can't just force a something on me like that and expect me to tell you something personal automatically!"

"Why? What could possibly be so bad about a car? I mutilated a cat before I was even out of diapers!"

"It's not just the car…"

"Then what?" She was gritting her teeth in defiance of his inquisition. "C'mon, we've been getting to know each other so well today. Besides, you know that if anyone can keep a secret, it's me."

"Fine." She huffed. "I don't want people judging me by some stupid, so-called high class fashion ownership bullshit. That's all." Well, that was a simple enough answer…although it did pave the way for more questions.

"Why? Afraid it'll distract them from your sparkling personality?"

"Shut up."

"Or maybe you go this car from a few mafia favors? Is that what you're afraid to tell me?" He teased.

"Bite me."

"It's just this secluded lifestyle of yours…for all I know, you could be some black market hitman."

"I will drive this car into a brick wall if that will stop you from talking."

This pretty much went on until Al finally stopped in the parking lot closest to the steps leading up to the Higurashi family shrine. Probably wanting to make sure he could make up those ungodly stairs safely, she escorted him up.

"Y'know, I'm glad nothing's changed." He said, brushing off her hand as it tried to help him.

"Huh?"

"This." He motioned between himself and her. "I was pretty worried for a little while that you were gonna act different to me from now on. But you've been pretty cool."

"You call this…" She repeated the motion between herself and him. "…cool? You're glad this hasn't changed?"

"Yeah." His sudden grin was offsetting…but far from unwelcome. "Y'know, I'd rather people treat me like just some other character to be individually judged instead of some different person who gets special treatment, good or bad."

"Careful." She warned. "You almost sounded deep."

"Nah…" He mused. "If everyone else is gonna stay the same, I may as well keep being the same superficial asshole you all know and love."

"My joy is physically palpable." She muttered as they reached the top of the steps. They stopped a few feet away from the house, and he made sure to face her with a serious expression.

"So…really. Thanks for everything."

"Eh, no prob." She shrugged again.

"Oh, Max!" They both turned to spot Sakura, who was just stepping out of the house. "That was fast…Oh, hello Alex. How's everything?"

"The usual." Came her nonchalant reply, earning a quick smile from Max.

"We're getting supper ready…would you like to stay?"

"Thanks, but no. I need to be getting back home."

"Well, all right. Come see us again soon."

"Will do." She nodded as she started heading back towards the stairs. When she'd gone a few steps, though, she turned and called back: "By the way, sorry to hear about your cat." Max's smile instantly faded, as all her could do was burn his eyes in the back of her skull as she headed off.

_Oh, you dirty, rotten, filthy…_

"Cat?" An oblivious grandmother echoed. "What's she talking about?"

"Nothing. Nothing, she's crazy." Max quickly rattled off, slinging his arm around her shoulder and pulling her towards the front door.

"Max, are you alright? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, I uh…" Great. Now he needed another quick excuse. "…I got a little sick today." That was technically true enough.

"Today?" That surprised her. "Are you sure?"

"Just a little." He reassured her. "I feel fine now. The off timing was probably just a fluke."

"Well, I hope so." She worriedly concurred. "Anyways, we're having soup tonight, so that ought to help get rid of whatever it was that's ailing you."

"Sounds awesome." He smiled, trying to close the ever-rackety shoji behind them as they went into the house.

"Also, we have some company tonight."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Grunting, the shoji was finally shutting under his force.

"One of your old teachers, actually." Sakura rounded the corner as she entered the den. "Miss Nagasi, right?"

The shoji Max was handling slammed shut so hard it splintered.

"Max?.!" She suddenly rushed back into the hallway, but before she could question the ruined doorframe, a panicked Max dashed past her to look into the den…

…where he was greeted by Great Grandpa, Uncle Souta…

…and Principal Nagasi, who put down her drink to give the frozen demon a knowing smile before her eyes suddenly flashed a terrible bright violet.

* * *

All things considered, that had gone a lot better than expected. 

It felt…good to be getting everything out in the open. To her, Max had always been this bizarre enigma in her life, a sort of curiosity that, despite herself, she could not bring herself to ignore outright. Much as he annoyed her at times, Max was kind of a pleasant visual curiosity, almost like of a piece of art… his appearance was something exceptional and unique…yet untouched and unsoiled. A rarity in a world filled with such intense ugliness that defiled almost everything it touches. People had been subverted and corrupted, the beauty of nature was being destroyed, and any trace of individuality or exceptionality were hunted down and assimilated. Either assimilated over, or assimilated from. Perhaps, subconsciously, beneath all the logic she buried her decision in, the reason Al had never wanted to tell Max about how she saw him was because she wanted the image to remain untouched. No one else disturbed it, and she didn't want to either. She wanted to preserve it as something that all the evil and corruption in the world couldn't reach…couldn't touch.

Well, from a visual point of view, anyway. Personality-wise, Max was about as corrupt and brainwashed by modern media, hedonistic lifestyles and corporations as any other sad person. That this personality was juxtaposed with such a unique, pure and outstanding physicality was…well, art. It probably had layers and layers of meaning that she couldn't begin to comprehend.

Okay, granted, Max wasn't the worst of what she'd seen. He wasn't a total prick. He was at least friendly, but the way he tried to make a joke out of anything, even serious issues, represented everything she hated about modern society: Apathy, and making light, or even turning a blind eye toward the injustices and suffering of others. Maybe that's why she got especially mad at him whenever he'd goof around.

Circumstances, however, had forced her to shatter the serenity surrounding his appearance. She'd dared to touch it by merely acknowledging that she could see it, and much to her relief, it had nevertheless remained unmarred. As Max had put it, nothing had changed. Or mostly not changed. The image she admired was still there, and now Al also knew that Max was a little better a person than most people. He had saved the lives those people in that car yesterday night, when any other person might have been content to stand around and gawk at the horror. And he'd been relatively nice and kind to her, even after she revealed that she could potentially be a danger to him. A part of her was also hoping that when they did get together and finally talk about him, she'd learn even more things about him that would boost her opinion of him. Maybe there was still a chance for some glimmer of hope and beauty in this world.

**Scream.**

That's what interrupted her thought process as she was opening the door to the car. A horrible scream had rung off in the distance. Although the strength of its tone had died off by the time it reached her, there was no mistaking the horror in it. Looking back, she realized it was coming down from the Higurashi shrine.

**End Chapter 7**

* * *

**A/N:**

**You: **You killed off Buyo?.! Booooooooooooooooooo! I'm not reading this anymore!

**Me: **What?.! Cats live for, like, 15 years! This story takes place almost 20 years after the Inuyasha series began! I'm trying to be at least mildly logical, here!

**You: **You had him mutilated, for God's sake! You sick BASTARD!

**Me:** So? Someone lost an arm, last chapter, and no one raised a fuss.

**You: **But this was a cute lil' kitty! Man, you totally suck!

**Me: **Uuuurrrggghhh…

…I was originally going to have this chapter and what I'd planned to be the contents of the next chapter all in one, but just this went on for awhile and was a lot harder to write than I expected, so I decided to split her in two. If all the dialogue and steamy shower scenes bored you (Did they? Seriously, lemmie know), rest assured that Chapter 8 will be Throwdown ™ time.

Giggidy.


	8. A Split Second of Hope

**Previous Chapter Illustration: **

**www. deviantart. com /view/ 23680389/ **

(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces.)

I went with graphite pencils this time as opposed to my usual inking. Not a bad effect, I suppose.

I showed this to my fucking roommate, and he told me it looked like Al was jerking Max off. Now I see it too, dammit.

…and…uh, now you do too…okay, forget what I just wrote.

**Nikanaru **

**Chapter 8**

A Split Second of Hope

_Or_

Asshole Author Suddenly Remebers he's Supposed to be Writing a Fanfic, and Shamefully Returns With an Installment you Could Crush With Your Pinky FInger.

* * *

**?.?.?.? Years Ago **

Early rays of reddened sun began to seep their way across the green landscape, seeping through small cracks in the foliage that was the roof of the forest. A time when days began anew, when creatures of all shapes and walks of life awoke to continue their existence. The sun blazed into the pink morning sky particularly brightly, as though inviting the awakening of a beautiful and enjoyable day.

But none answered the invitation. There was no life. Barely were there the stirrings of any creatures. No howling of roosters from nearby villages. No chirping or singing of any birds. Even the air itself was stilled, as no branches swayed in the breeze. The shadowed canvas covering the forest floor was unnaturally still. The dawn greeted the morning virtually alone.

Perhaps they had known what was coming. A superstition of nature itself was that it could foretell the comings of misfortune in an environment, and act accordingly. Rats would abandon a ship in anticipation of it sinking. Birds would flee the trees moments before violence broke out in the grounds below. And here, creatures from all walks of life fled, if they were capable of it, from something. If the degree of desertion in the forest was of any indication on the severity of this danger, then it was something of truly fearful proportions.

But the forest wasn't deserted. Not completely. At least one life form was there, although not by choice. There were places far safer than this, where he was far less likely to be hunted down and killed. But that would have only delayed what he had already accepted as inevitable. His exhaustion was evident, as from the torn, sweat-stained clothing and the heavy bags under his eyes. This was not the result of merely running for hours, but fleeing for days; Running, hiding, walking when possible, but never stopping. Not once resting from his given task. It was the maddening kind of resolve that could only come of one who had already accepted that his fate was sealed. There was nothing he could do…nothing that would matter, nothing that would change anything, nothing that would make a difference, except for one thing…and by the Gods, he would do it.

He was running for salvation. Not for himself, but for the wailing baby in his arms.

"Please, Nikanaru…" Stragled from the endless running as those lungs were, the pleas he hopelessly laid upon the child were uselessly hoarse. But he had to try. He would not give up, not on this mission, nor the child. "…c'mon, quiet down. They'll hear you." But the child wailed on, and no one could blame him. Three days of suddenly being separated from the bosom of his mother, three days of meals barely adequate for a healthy child, three days of being harshly held in the arms of a caretaker constantly on the run, and three days of barely any sleep. If the child were old enough to understand what was going on, understand the danger they were in, then perhaps he would have withheld voicing his displeasure with the current circumstances. But as it was, he was an innocent child deprived of everything he should have, and was crying its lungs to pieces over it.

All that the child's fox demon guardian could hope to do at this point was pump his already exhausted paws even harder against the ground. Nikanaru would not appreciate the greater shakes in movement, but there could no placating the infant now. They was too close now… but so was Naraku. To stop now would be failure. It would be his life…and the baby's.

"Easy…" The kitsune soothed, petting the child on the head. It may have been fruitless to even bother to calm Nikanaru down at this point, but what he did, he did out of love, not survival tactics. "…we're almost there. I promise you'll be okay." The more they raced on, the more and more he was starting to recognize the territory he was in. It had been almost two years since last he'd been here, but it was all just as he'd remembered it, save for the lack of any animal or insect life whatsoever.

Almost there.

Then, an unnatural wail screeched across the landscape. It was close, and the kitsune dared to look behind him. Thundering footfalls could now be heard, and trees were being carelessly slammed off to the side by whatever lunged through the forest canopy. It was coming for them, and coming fast. It seemed impossible at the time, but he managed to push himself even further and run even harder. It had barely made a difference, though, as the menace came crashing through the trees at an unholy speed, and would easily overtake him. Tactfully, he suddenly turned himself 90 degrees and leaped forth, barely dodging the lunging behemoth.

All of his training this past year had clearly paid off, as that lunge sent him flying several yards away from his pursuer, whose momentum was still sending it off in the wrong direction. Soon, he found himself dashing out from under the trees and into the clearing of a familiar village. He had originally intended to go around it so as to not lose the stealthy cover that the forest could provide, but seeing as how the enemy had already found him, there was nothing else to do but make a direct beeline for his destination.

The village was abandoned. No doubt word had gotten to the people and they'd fled. Mercifully, there were no stubborn stragglers vowing to defend their land at all cost. Lady Kaede was a strong and respected leader, and had doubtlessly convinced everyone that they had no choice but to leave. Dashing through the fields and cutting around the huts, he once again heard the infuriated wail of the creature behind them. Daring to look back once again, it crashed through the trees and into the fields, and he was able at last to discern what infested creature was perusing them.

Appropriately enough, it was a massive, house-sized tarantula demon. Naraku had always had a penchant for arachnids. Normally, despite their immense size, tarantula demons were quiet and stealthy hunters. However, under Naraku's control, it was like a volatile bull, charging recklessly and unstoppably at its target. And with those multiple legs pumping furiously, it was gaining on them fast. Despite the distance that the kitsune had managed to put in between himself and it, he could tell already that the tarantula would overtake them before he reached their target.

This is where the combat training would come in handy. No longer was he some childish prankster who relied on illusions and tricks to confuse and distract opponents. He had made a vow to protect her, and her child, and he had had to become strong in order to fulfill it. And even if he had already failed to protect her, he was sure as hell not going to give up on Nikanaru.

Within him, he began charging up his energy as much as he could while keeping up his pace. Just as he'd managed to clear the village and head for the forest path, the tarantula had already started smashing through the huts between it and its prey as though they were nothing. Only a few yards left to cover…he had to time this right if he was going to succeed. He knew he wasn't strong enough to destroy the tarantula entirely, but he could wound it enough to give him the precious few seconds he needed.

And suddenly, off in the closing distance, there it was…the Bone-Eater's Well.

No sooner had he spotted it than the tarantula unleashed a battle cry as it leaped into the air, lunging for them again. Turning around fast, he took careful aim at the skyborn arachnid.

"FOXFIRE!" Ages ago, it would have simmered forth from his fingers with barely enough intensity to light a paper on fire. Now, however, it blasted out with a rush of fierce concentration and power. The green fireball blazed across the morning sky and struck true, managing to blast off one of the tarantula's legs. Screeching in pain, the beast lost its balance and came crashing clumsily down into the ground a few meters behind them. Not hesitating for a second, he leapt for the well, timing his jump perfectly to leap down into it.

Truth be told, he hadn't been entirely certain if this would work at all. He knew only certain few people could travel through the well, and Nikanaru had never tried before. But he was her son, so he prayed immensely that whatever it was about a person that permitted them to use the well was hereditary. In any event, he had to try. The child would be unquestionably doomed if it stayed in this world.

His faith, his hopes, and his efforts were justified to him when a familiar blue light began to shine as he descended a few feet into down into the wooden shaft.

And it was all torn away when the leg he'd burnt off the tarantula fell in after them, grazing the baby in the head. That brief, split-second touch was all that was needed for the black tendrils in the decapitated leg to whip out and imbed themselves into the child.

"NO!.!.!.!" He screamed, wanting to stop, wanting to do something. But it was too late. Nikanaru was de-materializing in his arms, the light of the well taking him. The kitsune struck the bottom of the well, and the light was gone…and so was Nikanaru.

"No…no, no, no, no, no!" Desperate, beyond reason, he leapt back up and down into the well again, knowing full well that it would not work for him. But he tried anyways, and was predictably treated with nothing but gravity and a dirt-bottom. No blue light. No warp. No hope. Clutching his red hair, he fell to his knees in the agony of his own failure. He had now done worse than he could have hoped to do had he done nothing…not only was the child he had sworn on an oath of honor and love to protect infested, now the infestation had been sent to the other world, where it could once again begin to spread and conquer, just as it had here.

Looking up out of the rim of the well, he saw the infested tarantula, staring down at him with murder and rage in its eyes. It was too big to fit down the narrow rim of the well, and it wouldn't dare try to destroy it in order to get to its prey, but it had him hopelessly cornered.

"Kagome…" He pleaded, closing his eyes in defeat. "…I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Short chap. I was going to just put in an A.N. explaining why the hell I haven't updated in so long, but I've come to despise those things. So I added in this.Itwas going to be the lead in for the next chapter, but, I swear to God, this is all I've been able to write this month.

When I started this fic, I was hoping that I'd be able to keep a semi-regular update schedule…about once every two weeks. But now I'm going to have to go ahead and give out the same excuse I'm sure hundreds of other authors are giving out this time of the year, and tell y'all that University is stressing my ability to focus on this.

See, me, being the complete genius I am, decided to get all of my optionalprojects done early so I wouldn't have to deal with 'em when the semester gets really busy. But what that has meant is that, between that and my job, for the month of September, I've pretty much had to kiss my free time good-bye.

So I'd like to apologize to those of you who've diligently been reading and reviewing this so far. You guys make this whole hobby worthwhile, and I hope you'll forgive me. (So, whoever's been stabbing my shoulders with some Voodoo doll, I'm freakin' SORRY already!)

So, I SHOULD have a full and decent chapter within the next couple of weeks. 'till then, Good health to y'all.

Stay cool, baby.


	9. Infestation

**Previous Chapter Illustration**

**www. deviantart. com /view/ 28157098/**

Remember, copy-paste, the close the spaces.)

Aah…finally, I made something that isn't Max…or rather, isn't predominantly him. Yeah, that's our "hero", all tuckered up in a bundle and screaming his stupid little face off. Hey, don't judge, you'd probably scream too, if the guy carrying you was running around and shooting green napalm out of his fingertips. And hey, since he's wearing a diaper, Max finally has a legitimate excuse for pissing himself.

Oh, and a special thank you goes out to Ponygirl2112, who helpfully pointed out the meaning of "decapitate" is to cut off very specifically a person's head, and not, as I had previously assumed, any old body part. (I have now made the necessary changes to chapter 6.)

_**Nikanaru**_

**Chapter 9**

Infestation

Or

**POW! **_Wham! _SMACK! _**Ker-SLAM!**"Ugh!"_**Thumk! _BOOM! _**

**

* * *

**

**16(?) Years Ago**

He was HIS!

He had it! At long last, it was his!

HIS!

What a ridiculous aggravation such a simple task turned out to be. Something as insultingly simple as infesting a defenseless baby had ended up taking days to accomplish as a result of that ever-annoying fox demon. The kitsune, barely out of diapers himself, had proven himself in the past to be a mere pest at best, but nevertheless an annoyingly difficult one to swat. It had hardly mattered to him until the little bastard had taken it upon himself to hide Nikanaru from him. A foolish endeavor, without a doubt, to dare try and defy Naraku. Still, the kit had admittedly made an exasperatingly good attempt, using the trickery and stealth that fox demons were well renowned for to stay out of Naraku's grasp for as long as he did. Naraku might have not even bothered if not for two things.

One was that the kitsune, although insignificant, was both alive and not infested. Either condition was unacceptable to Naraku. Especially this one in particular, who was high on his list of those he sought revenge against.

But the second and far more pertinent reason was that the abhorrent kit had with it one of his most important targets. The child…Nikanaru, he'd come to learn. Although only months old, Naraku knew that the child possessed certain qualities that gave it remarkable potential. Consequently, those qualities, like everything else, belonged to Naraku. For them to exist outside of his control was a profane concept. So he'd devoted all of his efforts to hunting down the kitsune and that baby.

But days had passed, and Naraku had become increasingly infuriated. He was Naraku! He was all encompassing! He was everything! How could that kitsune manage to elude him so effectively? It wasn't until substantial interrogation that he'd learned of something called the "Bone-Eater's Well". What he'd learned about the supposed mystical properties of the well had sounded absurd at first…but it also excited him to think that there could be another world out there for him to become unto. But that would be a concern for later. Regardless, it was a clue as to where the kit might try to run to.

The hunch had bared its fruits…after a quick encounter and scuffle with the kit, whom he would be sure to go back and infest later, Naraku, at long last, had his prize.

And what a prize it was.

Infesting Nikanaru had felt unlike anything he'd ever infested before…to take any form, to conquer, to possess was always a joy to Naraku…but the form he'd now been given, the body he was now taking over, it practically burned with untold powers and might. All the days of hunting and all the anger flushed away in less than a moment as Naraku became overwhelmed with the promise of this young body.

It was…bliss. Yes, he would daresay bliss. Utter euphoria. A greater pleasure than any conquest before him had ever been. And he had just only started infesting the body. If he'd had control of the mouth yet, he would have laughed. THIS power belonged to him. It belonged to HIM.

HIM!

Slowly, Naraku began to see again. The infestation had reached the baby's eyes by now after the brief few seconds that joyously passed like hours. He could now see his surroundings…inside the well…yes, that made sense, but he also spotted a light.

Ah, yes…the portal. So that part had been true as well…there was another world waiting for him at the other end…and the thought of further conquest only increased Naraku's rapture, if such a thing were possible.

He had the ears now…the kitsune was screaming something. It seemed he realized what was going on…good, let the little fuck suffer a little before his proper infesting. Naraku soon felt the mystic energies of the well taking him. He welcomed them with arms as open as he could manage at this stage of the process.

He watched in wonderment as the world disappeared around them, replaced entirely by this blue light. Surrounding him, enveloping him both with illumination and promise. He aslmost had everything he needed. Now all that was left was the baby's mind.

Then…all joy, bliss, euphoria and malicious happiness were ripped away from Naraku. When he touched the child's mind, it did something no other had done…it screamed, yes, they all screamed…but this one screamed with some sort of pulse that actually pushed Naraku back. It actually pushed away the infestation! He reached again, only to be pushed back by an even harder pulse…and then, as if not waiting for another attack, the mind sent out what felt like a powerful maelstrom.

Naraku lost control of the head…the mouth started screaming and crying…panicking. Naraku fought back for control, but felt as though he was being burned away with an overwhelming force.

If Naraku could have screamed, he would have. He would NOT lose something as magnificently powerful as this body. To be ripped from it would not only be an insult and a torment but…

…in this portal, this other reality, he was not everywhere. Not like he had been before…the only place he existed was now in this child. If he lost this, then he'd lose everything. The fear of being culled from something this majestic to him, and of being forced out of a body with no place else to go caused Naraku to act like he'd almost never done before: He panicked, and struggled against the power holding him at bay with the fear of God.

It all happened in less than a few seconds, but the struggle felt like an eternity to Naraku. He pushed his infestation hard…harder than he'd ever done before, and for a hopeful instant, he felt himself holding on.

The light was disappearing around them, and the new world was coming into existence.

Then, the child screamed and cried anew, and a pulse that made the previous pulses pale in comparism struck Naraku next, shredding him out of the body like a tree that a hurricane would rip out of the ground.

Naraku couldn't scream. He wanted to, but he couldn't. It didn't hurt. It didn't feel anything. He felt nothing. He could do nothing. In an instant, he WAS nothing. All that remained was his consciousness.

He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He couldn't taste. He couldn't smell. He couldn't feel. He couldn't sense. For he had nothing with which to do so. All that was left of him now was a faint aural presence that could do nothing but aimlessly float about. He'd tasted the ultimate power in one instant, and that only made it more torturous when he felt absolutely nothing the next.

Naraku couldn't scream. He couldn't scream for years.

* * *

**16 Minutes Ago**

"What are you in the mood for? Green tea, or lemon?" Sakura asked as she retrieved the kettle from the kitchen cupboard.

"Eh…makes no difference to me. Whatever you'd like." Grandpa replied while tenderly spreading butter over the muffins intended to compliment the tea.

"Hmm…I don't really have a preference. What do you want?"

"Oh, just surprise me."

"It's a binary choice, dad. How can that be surprising? C'mon, pick something."

"Sakura, you're a big girl now. Just decide."

"I don't want to impose my will on everyone else. I'd like to be considerate and at least get an idea of what people are in the mood for. C'mon, you must have some preference."

"I have none. My 'mood' is split right in the smack-dab middle of green and lemon."

"Dad, mathematically and psychologically speaking, that's impossible. I…"

"GREEN." The issue was resolved with a firm, yet semi-polite assertion by Souta as he tried to not let his mild aggravation be evident as he hacked away at the beef. As irritating as things had been for him lately, Sakura had to admit that she was glad that they were going to be able to have dinner together, just the four of them, at least one last time before the latest addition to the family was to be wed.

Not that she wasn't looking foreword to having Asaki as a daughter-in-law, but it was still nice to at least preserve the memory of an era that was coming to an end. Lord knows that she knew the value of appreciating a moment in time before it was lost forever.

Her son, on the other hand, was still sore over the money and the surprise that had gone to waste last night. He'd been about halfway through his proposal to Asaki before he'd jumped out of his seat in shock and began screaming like a bad opera singer. So, although he hadn't officially asked Asaki to be his bride, she knew that he was about to ask her before he'd freaked.

So now, even though they both knew damn well what he intended to do, he still had to make some new arrangements to ask her properly. The majority of his day had been spent pulling some strings in order to make some last-minute arrangements for a romantic dinner at a posh restaurant tomorrow night. That hadn't been easy, given that the Greek place he'd been at last night was reluctant to have him back after he'd startled so many other patrons. So he instead managed to snag, through a skillful combination of throwing around his celebrity status and some classic bribery, a reservation tomorrow night at "La Club Maudit Calice."

But until then, that meant that he could at least enjoy the company of his trusty family, who always, despite their occasional bouts of bizarreness, managed to liven his spirits. Max, in particular. By all rights Souta should have been furious with him, except that Max hadn't forced Souta to bound from his seat, swearing like a sailor in front of some of Tokyo's social elite. Still, he absolutely didn't doubt that his little bugger of a demon nephew was going to use that as an excuse to make fun of him over at least the next couple of weeks.

Sakura and Souta were interrupted from their respective thoughts, and Grandpa interrupted from his semi-coherent mumblings, when a knocking was heard at the front door. Heading down the hall, Sakura moved to answer. Sliding, with some difficulty that ever-so-rickety shoji door, a woman was revealed beyond the paper walls.

"Good afternoon." Her greeting was as warm as it always was while she attempted to place this lady at the door. She looked familiar, somehow. Probably in her thirties, a neat, professional suit, and hair tied into a bun. She almost looked like a stereotypical librarian lady. Where had she seen her before?

"Good afternoon, miss Higurashi." Sakura's salutation was met with equal warmth and politeness. She frowned inwardly, as this woman clearly knew her, and yet Sakura embarrassingly could not, for the life of her, associate a name to the face she was faced with. The lady seemed to sense her struggle for recognition, and was kind enough to accommodate. "Sorry. Kari Nagasi?"

That little key piece of information brought an instant click of realization to Sakura's memory. She was initially relieved, then worried again.

Yes, Kari Nagasi. That wasn't a name she was bound to forget anytime before senility kicked in. Last year, hardly a day went by where Max had been doing his science homework and not unsubtly grumbling about "…that psychotic, neo-nazi, fascist, Satan worshipping, puppy kicking, baby eating, soul devouring…" Well, the list went on. And at times when he thought that she wasn't within earshot, the list generally featured language he certainly hadn't learned in THIS household.

"Oh! Yes, I'm sorry. How are you, professor?"

"Well, it's actually principal, now. So quite well, thank you."

"My! Well, congratulations…um, how can I help you?" She prayed desperately that Max hadn't somehow gotten himself in trouble at school.

"Is your grandson home?"

"No…uh, not yet. He'll be back soon, though. May I ask what this is about?" As worried as Sakura was, luckily, Nagasi had been constantly sporting a comforting smile, and proceeded to present a knapsack hanging from her left arm that Sakura recognized as Max's.

"It would, ah, seem that Max left school without this today."

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed as she reached out to accept the bag. "I…goodness, thank you."

"Not at all."

"I, uh…wow." Sakura stammered just a little in overwhelmed appreciation. "I've…I've never heard of a school principal going to all this effort for one student…"

"Oh, really, I'm more than happy to." Nagasi assured her. "I've been working closely with your grandson lately, and he's really been putting a lot of effort into his studies. I'm more than fine with giving him a little bit of help now and then. Y'know, anything I can do to help students who're really trying."

Honestly impressed beyond works, Sakura smiled at the woman before her. Academics were always something she'd been terribly worried about with her children, even though they had all done fairly well in school. And here now was an administrative official who, between all the politics, all the special interests, and the proverbial "Big Picture" that her job no doubt entailed, was still willing to take the time to look after one specific student.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again. Tell Max I said hi." Nagasi turned to leave, when Sakura decided it would only be appropriate to show gratitude for this woman's efforts.

"Wait…we're about to have some tea. Would you like to join us?" Nagasi slowly turned around and smiled.

"Why…yes. Yes I would."

* * *

**Present**

Paralysis is one hell of a nuisance… and so is shock, confusion or fear, or a combination of all, and this one case in most very particular. Max Higurashi found himself unable to move, as if the massive thump his heart just did somehow paralyzed his entire body. The shock for Max derived both from the fact that he'd just now remembered about his school principal, who had, earlier that day, been knocked unconscious via a pistol whipping upside the head by Naraku just after Max had been shot. It had been pretty stupid of him to just completely forget about her, but in his defense, he'd already had to deal with an armed psychotic chasing him through the sewers, a bullet wound, and his recent little discovery with Al. Sometimes, when you're desperately afraid for your LIFE, you just tend to forget the smaller things.

The second part of Max's shock had to do with the fact that said principal was now, hours later, seated in his family's den. The woman who'd witnessed him getting capped with a silenced pistol was now pleasantly having tea with his kin. That was where the element of confusion also came into play…see, what most people would do once regaining consciousness after witnessing an attempted murder and getting assaulted…was to call the cops, the FBI, the media, the army or _something_. It was therefore profoundly unusual that what Miss Nagasi had done instead was to have a pleasant tea-time with the family of the victim of the crime she'd just witnessed.

It may have been excusable had the blow to her head damaged her brain some, but that wasn't likely.

As for the fear element, that came initially due to the fact that Max knew that she knew what was going on.

The summary point here being that fear from any sort of paralysis is an extremely inconvenient thing, given that Max, in such a state, was in no position to do anything when principal Nagasi, within the same amount of time that it takes for lighting to strike across the horizon, shot out of her seat, charged Max and slammed him against the hallway wall while holding him by his throat.

The sudden crashing of tea dishes, the screaming of Sakura, but mostly the impact he suffered snapped Max back into a state where he could act again. And act he did. There was no thinking whatsoever on the matter…a very real threat was in his home, endangering both himself and his family. As though having his head slammed back against the wall was the trigger for such an action, Max instantly shot both hands out, grabbed Nagasi by her collar, spun around very hard and returned the favor by slamming her form into the wall behind him. By not holding his power back at all, Nagasi's body sank into the crumbling wall and sailed right through it, skidding across the pavement outside several feet while plasterboard and wood caved outward.

As if an instinct that he'd never even known he'd had was now in command of his actions, Max instantly leapt through the hole he had just made, outside and a few feet away from the body of Nagasi. Although she wasn't moving, his muscles remained tensed and his eyes never left her, ready for anything. If she had the same strength and endurance as Naraku had, then he had every reason to expect the worst.

"Max!" The scream of his grandmother came from within the home as herself, Souta and Grandpa approached the broken wall in aghast horror.

"STAY BACK!" Came a commanding order from the young demon, holding his arm out behind him for emphasis, but never taking his eyes off Nagasi. Those purple eyes he'd seen her glare at him with…he knew them. He waited…waited to see if she was going to move again. For a tense moment, her form was motionless, but still breathing.

When she moved again, Max jolted, but just a little when he saw how she was only slowly pulling herself back to her feet. If Max had been a little more self-are at the moment, he likely would have been shocked to find himself growling quite loudly. As it stood, his pure focus was on keeping himself in between his family and this threat of a woman, watching her movements carefully and threateningly as she lifted herself to her feet and, with almost insulting casualness, brushed herself off.

"M-Max, what the hell is…"

"I said stay behind me!" He yelled again, cutting off Souta. Nagasi finally looked straight at him, meeting his narrow-eyed, tooth-bared expression with a cruelly mocking smile, not at all unlike the one Naraku had given him earlier when he'd been writhing on the floor in pain. With the crystal on, Max may have only looked like he was showing off fangs he didn't have, but the narrow-eyed look left no doubt about his seriousness. She took a step foreward and Max tensed up again, expecting another attack, but instead she lazily walked in a small circle, her head looking around the shrine grounds in mock curiosity.

"So…" She finally spoke, looking off in the distance to her left. "…this is the infamous shrine…this is where everything begun." Looking around with a casual quickness again, she chuckled. "A bit embarrassing, perhaps, that it took me so long to find such an obvious place."

"Get…out." Max threatened, speaking the words only as barely recognizable changes in the pitch of his growling. "If you people come anywhere near here again…"

"People?" Nagasi interrupted, sounding honestly perplexed by Max's choice of words.

"You…or Naraku…or whoever else is part of your organis…" He was cut off when she suddenly threw her head back and gave a snort of amusement.

"Oh…oh, are you honestly this stupid, Nikanaru?"

"W…what?"

"Can't you sense it? Can't you smell it?.?"

_Smell? What the…_ His sudden rage died down a little as he suddenly began paying more attention to the air he was inhaling. _What the Christ is she talking about? I don't…_ thoughts trailed off as olfactory senses did begin to pick something up. Something faint, that he hadn't noticed before, but it was there…and it was unusual. It wasn't a scent per se, at least not in the sense he had been used to, as in simple smells, sweat and aroma, but his nose was definitely picking up something unnatural radiating off her. Something that entered his nostrils and uncomfortably tingled at his nose hairs like the prickly sensation one got when a limb starts to go numb. But feeling it now, he also realized he had sensed it earlier. That unnatural musk was like…

"You smell like Naraku." He finally voiced. "So you ARE part of the same outfit."

"Idiot." She seemed genuinely exasperated with his denseness. "I AM Naraku."

_HUH!.?_

"Huh!.?"

"Oh…quite. That was quite a nasty little number you did on my last body, Nikanaru. Though I suppose it may have been my fault as well for being so careless…"

_Wait a minute…_

"…but you are unpredictable in that you seem to swing back and forth between being an ignorant fool to a quasi-competent warrior and back again."

_It…it couldn't…_

"Well, in any event, I suppose it's a good thing that poor girl I was possessing died so soon after you took off her arm. The pain…had been excruciating by human standards."

"P…possess?" Max stumbled. "No. No, you're full of shit."

"However…" Ignoring him, any amusement in Nagasi/Naraku's face suddenly vanished, replaced with a near exact replica of the facial expression Naraku had given him back in the school office. A look that spoke of immense anger and hatred.

"…whatever physical pain you can render upon any body I infest, I doubt it can compare to the pain, the suffering, and the indignity you already caused me all those years ago."

"Jesus, you asshole, I never even met you before…"

"I was in YOU, Nikanaru." She/he roared with a sudden burst of anger, taking a step toward him. "You were supposed to be mine. And I HAD you. I infested you when that miserable little kitsune threw you down the well."

_Kitsune?_

"But then you…or perhaps it had something to do with that portal we went through…in any event, something managed to rip me from you."

"What?"

"I don't have a body to call my own, Nikanaru. I don't have eyes, ears, or any senses. When you rejected me, you deprived me of any ability to sense anything. To FEEL anything. Do you have any idea what that's like!"

"I…"

"To be comatose while still fully awake? To be cut off and numb from everything! It was like spending years chained down in a dark, windowless room! I was practically driven to insanity!"

_Practically?_

"It took me over a decade to regenerate enough strength to infest again, to finally have a body! And even then, I had no idea where I was! There was nothing for me in this perversion of a world! No power, no demons, and barely any priestesses!" By now, Naraku/Nagasi wasn't holding back her angry screaming, and her voice, much to Max's horror, was now tracing itself with that same male-voice that the police woman/Naraku had used.

"You…"

"You are an obvious by-product of this world, Nikanaru. Like you, this land possesses no concept of magic, youki, energy or even the most basic arcane arts. It took me forever to finally find a body that had miko power within it, and still it took me months to ferret you out. It's impossible to sense anything in this mystically numb society!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT WITH ME?.!" Unable to take anymore, Max responded to Naraku's angry screams with one of his own. Apparently, this seemed to snap Naraku back to his/her more common, cool composure, and she once again chuckled.

"I just want what I rightfully should have had all those years ago. I want YOU Nikanaru." Before Max could reply, a desperate plea screeched out from behind him.

"You stay away from him!" Max twisted around in a panic when his grandmother emerged from the hole in the house, her action surprising both himself and Souta, who tried to stop her.

"Mom, no!" Souta jumped out the hole as well and managed to hold Sakura back before she got too far.

"You…you stay away from us! Do you hear me?.? You're not taking him away from us! We just want to be left in peace!" Sakura struggled, although half-heartedly, against Souta's grip, screaming tearfully at Naraku. Max sidestepped to make certain he was between them and Naraku, who only seemed amused by her demands.

"You just want to live in peace? You certainly have an odd way of living by that claim, woman." Max growled again, displeased with this monster addressing his grandmother. His threats didn't deter Naraku, however. "You…you're Kagome's family, yes?"

The entire grounds froze. Sakura instantly stopped her struggling as she, Max, Souta and Grandpa all stared at aghast Naraku. To him/her, their reactions were absolutely priceless.

"W…wh…what did…you say?.?" Sakura sniveled as she slowly shivered into moving again. Naraku smirked right at her. "Wh…what do you about…about my daughter?.!" She began to panic some, and Souta, despite his shared shock and terror, once again held her back. "Where…where is she? Where is she!.?" Her struggles became frantic as she wanted to lunge at the creature who only teased at her agony with a cruel, knowing smile. "WHERE IS KAGOME!.?" Finally, Naraku shook his head from side to side and pointed at the well house.

"On the other side. I would have assumed that you knew that, foolish woman. Ignorance seems to run rampant in this household" When Sakura stopped struggling, Souta found himself cradling her as she collapsed in tears and pain that she had not known for almost sixteen years, renewed in an instant by this malicious bastard. Satisfied at his work, Naraku turned to Max. "Do you want to see her?"

"What?" He growled out, more furious than ever. Naraku took a step towards him.

"I can take you to her. All I need is your body." Max instantly bore all claws and fangs out wide, invisible as they may have been at that moment.

"Take one more fucking step towards us, I don't care who you are, I'll rip your goddamned throat out!"

"I don't have a throat." Naraku mused back. "But your dear Miss Nagasi does." A pause was left to give Max a moment to digest what was just said before Naraku elaborated. "Are you really willing to end this Nagasi woman's life just to slow me down? After all, I can just get another body." Naraku's lecture had the desired effect, as sudden hesitation was evident in Max with his widened eyes. "Oh…but then again, that wouldn't be a problem for you, now would it? After all, you did end poor Mishi's life for that same reason, now didn't you?"

"M…Mishi?"

"Yes. That miko I was eventually lucky enough to stumble upon. A darling young lady…college student, was going to go into photography." Having known this world, this culture, if only for a short time, Naraku knew that if this demon had been brought up with these values, then he was pushing just the right buttons. "But none of that ultimately mattered to you, did it, Nikanaru?"

"What…what do you…?" Ignoring Max's stumbling response, having savored quite enough of those, he once again turned his attention to the old lady sobbing in the young man's arms.

"You said you wanted to live in peace, Miss Higurashi? I'm curious, then…are you aware of what your little demon here has been up to of late?" Shakingly, Sakura turned tear stained face to Naraku.

"Don't you talk to her, you piece of…!"

"Not more that a few hours ago, he used those wonderful claws of his to slice the hand off a young, innocent woman and then threw her down into a pool, where she drowned."

Max didn't move, still facing Naraku, looking as threatening and angry as he possibly could despite the enormous thump his heart just had. On one level, this may have been because he wanted to appear as though Naraku's mind games weren't working on him, and he'd shrugged them off without a thought. On the other hand, it may have been because he didn't want to turn around and see what his grandmother's reaction to Naraku's claim was. He wanted to think that there was no way in hell she'd ever believe such a thing, but wasn't sure if he could stand it if he'd turn around and see a look of doubt or horror on her face.

_FUCK!_

He wanted to scream at him, yell that he was the one who had possessed her, and that he'd only done what he'd done in self-defense. But all that would have done was cement his guilt in front of his family. No. Max was smart enough not to fall for that, although he prayed that his silence didn't have the same effect.

"Liar."

The slightest hint of a smile graced the sides of Max's face when he finally heard Sakura quietly whisper that out.

"Hmph." Naraku dismissed, deciding that mind games with the old woman were pointless, albeit amusing. "Nevertheless, the loss of that one miko body might not turn out to be quite the setback I had originally anticipated it to be. After all, the whole point of it having one was to locate you. And besides…" At that moment, Naraku, with a teasingly slow pace, turned around off the right. "…it seems I may have already found another one." Taking the bait, Max turned his head as minimally as possible to follow Naraku's line of sight. Although once he spotted what she/he was looking at, he immediately turned with his whole body.

At the top of the concrete steps leading from the Shrine to the street below, looking on the whole scene was Al. For another brief moment, Max froze in shock.

"AL! Get out of here!" He roared across the courtyard to her. She backed up a step, appearing as confused and as panicked as one could expect anyone witnessing such a scene. "GO! NOW!" Al may not have had a clue, but the fearful plea in Max's voice as it rang out made it pretty clear what a dangerous situation this was, and left her with no questions about whether or not she should do as she was being told. She slowly headed back towards the steps.

Seeing Al going, Max took another quick look at Naraku, making sure that he/she wasn't making any wrong moves before turning back to his family.

"You guys, too! Go!" There was obvious hesitation from them at his demand. No doubt they were also confused, but also unwilling to leave a family member alone with this hostile character.

"Wh…but…"

"I'll be fine! Now leave!"

"Actually you won't. And they can't." Naraku said as though correcting him matter-of-factly.

"You aren't gonna lay a hand on them, fucker." Max replied, almost matching Naraku's tone.

"Well…" Naraku considered, raising his arms slightly. "Perhaps not _these_ hands, specifically." Catching movement off in the corner of his eye, Max witnessed Al again, only now backing away from the stairs and back onto the grounds.

"What are you doing! Get out of here!" He screamed over to her again. She looked back to him, and then back at the staircase, still backing away from it as though afraid of it. He was about to yell at her again, when...

_!…_

There it was again…that unnatural "smell" whose nature he couldn't describe. Having turned his head toward the stairs, Max was suddenly hit with a much larger, much more noticeable dosage. One that almost stunned him physically. It hit him as though it were fear itself, almost forcing a set of shivers down his spine and the hairs on his skin to rise up like spikes. It succeeded in halfway killing his ferocious demeanor.

By now, Al was running away from the stairs entirely, moving towards a more deserted part of the courtyard, though still a safe distance away from Max and Naraku. Still staring at the stairs where that scent was coming from, Max at last saw, with wide eyes, what Al had ran from.

People. Just…people. Dozens of them. Men, women, some children, almost shoulder to shoulder, marching up the steps and spilling out into the shrine grounds like water from a tap. Max, Souta, Sakura, Grandpa and Al all watched dumbfounded as this apparent randomly assembled mob walked onto the grounds, the controlled calm in which they moved combined with the utter absurdity that accompanied the situation resulting in an unprecedented level of fear on the Higurashis' part.

But for Max, what made it even more petrifying was that they all, each and every last one of them, had that same unnatural violet glow in their eyes and the dark veins underneath their skins.

"As I mentioned, finding you again…" Naraku/Nagasi began.

"…I had a lot of ground to cover." Finished a young man near the head of the swarm, speaking in Naraku's exact voice.

"While I haven't quite recovered enough strength to infest like I used to…" A small girl off to the side continued,

"…I did manage nonetheless to amass a healthy search party." A woman near the back of the mob closed.

"But once I determined that you were here…" Naraku/Nagasi spoke again, this time with a very deliberate pause.

"**We all just came as fast as we could." **The entire mob spoke in perfect unison. As the mob of infested people approached, Max had actually backed up a few steps, terrorized beyond reason. Never, not once in all of his life, even knowing what he was and where he'd come from, could he have ever imagined something like this happening. So much so that he almost didn't noticed when two of the Infested moved off to each on of his sides.

"And we're all just so glad to see you again." Taking advantage of Max's horrified state, the two at his sides lunged forth in a flash and each grabbed one of his arms. Max yelped and tried to pull away, only to find that both of them also held the same level of strength as the other Infested…superhuman strength. In an equally fast lunge, Nagasi/Naraku delivered a powerful punt to his gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to keel over, only the two Infested holding his arms keeping him from collapsing to the ground.

Unprepared for that attack as he was, Max's ears thundered with the pain in his body, but he could still hear clearly the screams going on around him. His grandmother, Great Grandfather, Uncle and Al all shrieked his name out at once, and that suddenly cut through all the haze and apprehensiveness that had been clouding his mind like a wing through a gale.

Pleased with his/her aim, having hit him right in the spot where she'd shot him earlier, Naraku/Nagasi chucked as she/he grabbed at the necklace around the back of his head and snapped it off, revealing at last the demon it had hidden. As though a mist had suddenly been cleared, Max's tail, claws and facial markings appeared again to the naked eye.

"You really should have had that gunshot wound looked at, Nikanaru." Naraku spitefully ridiculed him as she leaned in, tossing the Toku crystal off to the side.

Max took one deep intake of oxygen and snapped his head up to meet Naraku's gaze head on.

"I did, fuckwad."

His left foot flew out like a catapult and collided with Naraku/Nagasi's jaw, the full-demon strength behind the blow sending the infested principal flying into the surprised mob behind her. Before either of the Infested on his side could react, Max twisted his torso to the left, dragging them both off their feet. Then, his torso snapped hard to the right, dislodging the Infested from his person and sending them too tumbling back into the mob.

Earlier on, Naraku's Infested had managed to either equal or overpower Max's strength and speed due that miko bullet that that Mishi girl had managed to plug his gut with. Now, however, the miko energies that had severely weakened him earlier were gone, and the wound had healed quickly in the last hour since the bullet removal. Max wasn't in his top form, but he had regained enough of his power to show that he was indeed stronger than any of the individual Infested.

_Thanks, Al._

And now, assuming a fighting stance with claws bared, for the first time in his life, he wasn't going to hold back any of his might. This was HIS home. This was HIS family. No one…NO ONE threatened them.

"GO!" Max screamed back to his family one last time before he lunged at the mass of dozens of Infested. With a feral roar, his body slammed right into several of them, knocking them backwards. He jumped back again, expecting the swarm to suddenly close in around him like liquid absorbs an object dropped into it. Upon leaping back, he again rammed into a different part of the mob, hit hard and moving fast enough to keep out of any of their reach.

Grandpa and Sakura watched in horror, with only Souta having collected himself enough to realize what Max was doing…he was almost herding the Infested, pushing them further back into the shrine grounds, away from them and from Al. Max was trying to buy them an opportunity to escape. And Souta knew better than to pass that up.

"C'mon!" He almost picked his mother off her feet, going in the opposite direction of where Max and the Infested were. Sakura instantly renewed her struggles.

"No! Don't! MAX!" Screaming as she tried to break her son's grip, Sakura was helplessly dragged away, with Grandpa faintheartedly following. He called over to Al, a few feet away from them.

"You! Young lady c'mon!" Al barely even registered that the Higurashi elder was yelling at her as she watched mesmerized at the scene before her.

By now, Max had lost the element of surprise, and the mob was pushing harder against his lunges. Finally, one hand managed to grab one of Max's sleeves before he could jump away from the crowd. More hands made grabs for him, and he dodged to the side, swinging off the hand holding him like an anchor. Grabbing that hand, Max pulled the one infested toward him and unleashed a punch that could ordinarily cave a person's skull into his brain. Instead, it only seemed to stun the infested one enough to let go of Max, but by this time, Max was surrounded on all sides. What martial arts he could remember in a situation like this kicked in and Max sent a sweeping kick all around him, managing to trip the Infested closest to him.

"Hey!" Al was knocked out of her daze when Grandpa's hand clamped around her forearm. "What are you doing! We have to go!"

"Wh-!" Stammering as she was pulled away, she looked to him and back at Max, then over at Sakura, who was still struggling as Souta pulled her towards the stairs. "You…you're just gonna leave him?"

Max was quickly surrounded, but the fast glances he gave to his family and Al showed him that they were now heading towards the stairs with the Infested now a safe distance away from them as all their attention was focused on him.

_Thank God. Now…_

The mood suddenly changed just then. There were now no distractions…just him and his enemy, and nothing in between. All fear and anxiety Max had had in the last few minutes melted away with the danger to his family at least temporarily removed. Any semblance of domination Naraku had held over him had been in terms of administering fear, doubt and danger to his loved ones. Now that Naraku was no longer in a position to do such things, the only thing that Max and the Naraku could do to each other was to inflict bodily harm.

And despite never having been in a serious fight before, Max fear was completely removed.

Moving quick, his leg shot out behind him and floored the infested closest to him. When another charged from the front, Max almost clumsily punch/slapped him aside. Regrettably, he didn't spot a third one coming up on his side, who managed to land a right hood right on the cheek, causing Max to reel off the side where another kicked him in the back of his knee. Knocked to the ground, he rolled away from several crushing feet intent on stomping him. Scrambling back up fast, he could only punch one more infested away before another grabbed him from behind, securing her arms around Max's. This left him wide open to yet another punch in the face before he was able to kick that one away and then throw the other infested off his back. But no sooner had he done so than the entire crowd had swarmed him again.

This time, his hand lashed out, not closed fisted but open. Max's claws slashed across the eyes of one shrieking infested. Evidently, Naraku did indeed feel the pain of any body he was in. The shriek seemed to startle everyone, Max included, as everyone paused, looking on as that one infested fell to his knees, grabbing at his bleeding retinas.

The body was a young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, not so far removed from Max's age. On his knees, the infested slowly removed his hand from his bloodstained eyes… Max wasn't exactly certain what he was supposed to be feeling…the battle rush was killing any guilt he might ordinarily feel over such an act.

"This body…" That particular infest spoke in Naraku's calm voice. "…his name is Jed. He works at his family's river-rafting tour during the summer. Don't you care that you may have just taken away his opportunity to ever do so again?"

_That fucking TEARS IT!_

"Don't even try guilt-tripping me, you sick motherfucker! If you're the one who took their bodies, then any shit they take is on you!"

"I admit that I don't care what happens to them..." The blinded infested spoke. "…I certainly don't intend to keep any of these wretched, weak bodies. Still, when I release them from my power, I can't help but wonder what they'll think of any injury they'll have sustained. Or, for that matter, about the one who delivered it to them despite knowing that they could be saved."

_Well, Jesus, what the hell am I supposed to do! If I don't fight back…_

"Listen, sweetheart..." Max snarled, matching Naraku's condescending tone with a snide one, much like Max had previously done with his various teachers. "…don't waste your breath on the lawyer-talk. Nothing you say is going to change the fact that if you, in any kind of body, come after me, I'm going to keep hitting it until you stop moving."

"So that's how it is? You keep killing me until I run out of bodies?"

_Christ, God, please forgive me._

"Whatever."

"Hmph." Naraku almost seemed pleased with this development. "Cold and ruthless. Seems you inherited at least something from your father."

"Wh-"

**_THWUD!_**

_Damn, he's good._ No sooner had the Naraku uttered the word "father" than other Infested attacked, knowing that Max would be taken off balance by that particular word. In fact, three of them, coordinating perfectly, hit him with three simultaneous punches whose combined might sent him flying. It seemed that the body-snatching demon had a talent for manipulating emotions, despite Max's brave front. Still, Max had no intention of losing.

The problem simply was that even if he did fight full-out, he was still outnumbered and inexperienced when it came to actual combat. He was using what Kung Fu he could remember with a combination of his now uninhibited strength, but that was only taking him so far. He was getting hit a lot, and it was starting to wear him down.

_So do what you said you would…use your claws._

He punched another Infested back when another three came at him.

_Come on, you goddam pussy! You could rip them all apart in a no time._

He managed to pop one them in the jaw, but the other two landed a duo of kicks on him, knocking him back just as the third recovered and charged again, once again sending Max to the ground.

_For God's sakes, you idiot! Your life is on the line! Your family's lives are on the line! Just do it!_

With a cry, Max once again shot out his claws at one of the Infested. What happened felt like it was happening in slow motion again, like that time in the sewers. With some morbid sense of accomplishment, he saw his fingertips slit easily through the calf of the Infested's legs, neatly cutting the muscle. It was such a clean and fast cut that blood barely flowed this time.

Then, cowardice once again struck, and Max pulled his hand away, having only made a light incision into the Infested's calf muscles.

Now, having spent much of his life having to improvise and act, what with hiding his true nature to all those around him and all, Max had learned how to feign acting like he'd meant to do something that was totally accidental. So, when it turned out that the light cut he'd given the Infested was actually enough to disable his legs and thus immobilize him without causing permanent damage to the body, Max put on a cocky smirk as though that had been his intention the whole time.

_Eh…go with what works. _In a flash, he'd done the same to three other infested, slicing at their tendons with about deep enough a series of cuts to force them to their knees, now physically unable to use their legs.

_Okay…so Naraku's possession enhances their strength and speed, but they've still got physical limitations. He can't make them move if they haven't got functioning parts, like…_ Just as another came at him, Max clamped both hands onto the sides of her head and slammed her head into the pavement below… with more force than he normally would, taking into account her enhanced resistance, but still enough to knock her unconscious. He waited a split second to see if she'd get up, but she didn't move.

When another had come from behind, Max's big, white tail snapped out from behind him and whipped the Infested hard enough to knock him off his feet.

_Oh, hell YES._ Almost grinning like an idiot, Max charged right back into the fray, fully intent on knocking out every last one of them.

* * *

The four people currently heading down the flight of stone steps that lead from the Higurashi Shrine to the street below were all in a state of panic and confusion, and possibly the greatest confusion of all belonged to Al. 

Less than a full hour ago, when she'd revealed to Max that she knew he was something either more or less than human, he'd reassured her that, despite appearances, he was still the same, relatively normal guy she'd always known him to be. Either he'd been lying through his fanged teeth, or she'd just had the miserable luck of discovering this on a very bad day.

People were ATTACKING Max. People who also seemed less than human. She now regretted not trying to pry more information out of Max when she had the chance on what on earth this "demon" culture consisted of, because maybe she'd have a better understanding of what the hell was going on. All that she'd been able to muster was that something extremely dangerous was happening, and that it was in her best interests to leave.

But to be truthful, a nagging part of her wanted to go back. She wanted to observe this new development which seemed to be something unfathomable in this world she lived in. Even if it was dangerous, it was still something beyond what she'd always known, and that was what fascinated her.

But there wasn't much chance of doing that with the rest of the Higurashi family herding her down the stairs.

"We can't leave like this! Please, we have to go back!" Pleading and still struggling against the iron grip Souta had on her hand, Sakura tried desperately to return to her grandson.

"Mom, THINK!" Souta shouted at her without breaking his pace. "What are you going to do if you go back up there, huh? Make yourself a hostage for those people?"

"But Max…"

"Max has a better chance of surviving those lunatics than any of us do! Look, I'll go back and help him, but first we've got to call the police or something!" Souta, being a professional athlete, was certainly a fit enough young adult, as he'd seen his share of fights in his days. The irrational part of his mind did want to run back up there and help his nephew, but nothing trumped common sense, which clearly stated that he had to get his mother and grandfather out of danger, call for help, and only then go back.

"I…I've got a cell phone!" Al huffed out in rushed breaths while being hurried down the stairs. Wasting no time, she flipped it open and dialed 911.

"Don't bother, dear." The four of them had been focusing so much on rushing down the stairs as fast as they could while either dragging a family member with them, or just working past the confusion, that they failed to notice three people at the bottom of the steps beginning to walk their way up. Al, Souta, Grandpa and Sakura immediately stopped. "Not too militarily minded, are we? Always prepare backup." One of the three sneered.

They had the same voice and the same eyes as the rest of the people at the shrine…more Infested, and they were coming straight for them. Souta was instantly a few steps ahead of his family and Al, fists raised, ready for anything.

"Move it if you know what's good for you."

"Don't insult me with threats that only exist within your human capacity." One of them spat back, not at all breaking his stride. Moving fast, at least by the standards of humanity, Souta decked him right in the face, only to pull his fist back in a grunt as his knuckle had bruised against the Infested's unmoved head. Not backing down, Souta tried with his other hand to aim for the throat. With speed shaming any human achievement, the Infested caught his arm effortlessly and gave it a light squeeze.

Yelping as he felt something pierce his skin, Souta pulled back, surprised that the Infested had let go of him so quickly. Nevertheless, he kept his arms raised in a fighting stance, knowing that he'd gladly fight a losing battle if it were in the name of his family's safety. But surprisingly, the Infested wasn't approaching anymore. Rather, he just stood there with a grin on his face.

"_911, what's your emergency?"_ The cell phone at last responded. Although Al barely noticed, her full attention now on the scene before her.

Confused, Souta stared back at the Infested man blankly for a moment, trying to see what he was doing. He then noticed the same hand that the Infested had used to catch his arm…it had some strange looking black tendrils coming out of the tips of his fingers. That's when a horrible sensation brought his attention back to the place where the Infested had pricked his arm.

Snapping his eyes back to that place, Souta's eyes went wide when he saw what was happening: From the relatively small puncture wound underneath his skin were more of those thin black tendrils, now growing and spreading underneath his skin. And growing with them was that horrific sensation.

"_Hello? Are you there?"_

With a weak gasp, he clutched his arm as it began to spasm uncontrollably. The feeling was deathly…he felt his arm go cold and numb one second, only to be refilled with a sickly cramping sensation the next. Like something other than him was moving his arm, his muscles contracting beyond his control. And the feeling, as well as the tendrils, was spreading rapidly from his hand, to his arm, to the rest of his body.

Within less than a second, Souta's entire body convulsed as he doubled over, grunting and growling in agony.

"_Sir, are you unable to answer the phone?"_

"Souta! Souta!" Sakura and Grandpa both cried out for him, grabbing his shivering body, preventing him from falling over down the stairs. The seizures became quickly worse, as did the moans of agony coming from his mouth, until a moment later, they just stopped.

Several seconds passed with Souta not moving, and Sakura and Grandpa trying to get a response from him. Finally, his entire frame came alive with one deep breath taken. Souta stood up to his full height with a frightening calm and turned around, staring right into Sakura's eyes.

"Hello…'Mother'." Came an unnatural voice just as Souta's eyes flashed violet. Al's cell hone was dropped almost violently against the stone ground.

"…_All right, I'm tracing the call and sending a unit over to your loca…"_

_

* * *

_

He was enjoying this.

_I'm…winning? Holy cow, I'm actually winning! Ain't that some shit. _That conclusion, while reached with a reasonable amount of caution and consideration, was achieved when Max realized that he had effectively knocked out or incapacitated about half of the Infested over the course of the last… how long had it been anyways? This whole thing couldn't have been going on for more than five minutes, but like everything else that had happened today, the brawl felt to Max as though it had been happening in bullet time.

To anyone else, though, they would likely have been astounded by the sight…Max was bounding left and right, up and down, moving like a blur. To the naked eye, Max's position would be almost impossible to keep track of if not for the long, white tail that trailed him. And meanwhile, the group of Infested were a mass of confusion trying to keep up with it enemy.

He was enjoying this.

_Kinda wish I hadn't changed my shoes. Kicking this shithead's face in with shit-covered sneakers would be some sorta fuckin' poetic justice._

That's right. When had he ever done this before? Unleash the full wrath of his power unto another living creature? Never. He'd never dreamed that he'd one day get the chance to do it…or would he rather say that he'd been forced?

_Oh, Goddamit, blood's going all over the place! Christ, I'M the one in charge of sweeping up the grounds and keeping them clean…knowing my luck, it'll probably be a bitch to scrub blood out of stone._

To say even less was that he ever imagined he'd one day meet someone capable of giving him a challenge worthy of his natural abilities. He'd spent his entire life being gentle with others, as his Great Grandfather had taught him to do. But now, for the first time ever, he was fighting…truly fighting, and not holding back for the sake of someone else. And it was… it was…

_And there's blood all over my claws, too. Though I must say, that is a far more ravishing color than I've seen on any of those high-class chicks Souta used to date. I wonder if blood-donor doctors or assassins do cosmetic work on the side? There's a potential fortune to be had._

Exhilarating. Yes. That was it. Max had never had an overwhelming concern with his own welfare, so that might explain why he was strangely unafraid. He'd fight for his own life in a given situation, as proven by the many given to him today. But any self-preservation instincts that he had were nothing compared to the instinctive protectiveness he had toward others. Whenever that particular concern was present, it was all he though about, and overwhelmingly so.

_Not that I'm complaining or anything, but didn't Naraku think to even give one of these idiots a gun or a knife or something? Coming after me unarmed…at least the guy's got balls…or multiple sets of 'em anyways._

But that concern wasn't present anymore. Souta, Great Grandpa, Sakura and Al were no longer in danger, and Max had figured out how to defeat the Infested without killing them. Nothing now stood in between him and a new instinct. It was like something inside of him that had at last been awakened now that he was finally in a real fight. Something that he only became aware of with the trumpeting worry for his family now silenced.

_Speaking of balls, why the hell couldn't Al's dad have worn briefs? Doesn't he know boxers leave your giblets dangling around like a set of bells when you're bouncing around like this! God, what an inconsiderate prick._

Yes. He was enjoying this. He liked the fight. In this moment, Max discovered that some small, but easily notable part of him liked the pure, unadulterated act of fighting.

_Kssh. When all this is over, I'm probably gonna hafta spend all night explaining everything. Great, now I'll hafta Tivo "Survivor"._

It was some sort of morbid thrill whose nature felt absolutely out of place, so foreign both because he'd never felt it before, and because it did not sound at all like anything that should be coming from Max Higurashi…and yet there it was all the same. He knew that he shouldn't feel that way. He knew he should hate having to do this…, but for the brief couple of minutes where anger, hatred, and fear had been removed from the fight, all that was left was some sort of bizarre delight.

It was shameful. But he couldn't stop it. So he did the one thing he always did when things became strange and unpleasant.

_I should bleach my tail. Or maybe get some hair dye and give it streaks. Then it would look bitchin' when I zip around._

After leaving a satisfying print of his sneaker's sole on the face of another Infested, Max, despite the severe amount of gibberish he was purposefully clogging his mind with, was still able to sense another Infested coming up from behind him. He twisted around swiftly, ready to deliver a crack to his jaw, when all the conflicting thoughts going through his head instantly unified into one solid being.

_Uncle Sout-! _It was a roundhouse powerful enough to interrupt the very flow of thoughts, due in part to Souta's own great natural strength in addition to the Infested boost, but also because Max, in such a state of shock, froze and left himself completely open. All the remaining Infested stopped moving, even as Max scrambled quickly back to his feet.

"Uncle…Souta?" Now there it was again. The fear that came with having family members imperiled. This was NOT fun anymore. Souta stared back at Max with a smirk so uncharacteristically evil that Max knew in an instant that it didn't belong to him. That, and the unwelcomingly familiar purple glow in Souta's eyes.

"Not anymore." The voice came from Souta's mouth, but it was about as much his as the smirk had been. Taking a few steps aside, Souta/Naraku directed Max's attention to the scene behind him.

"NO!" The fear quadrupled the instant Max's eyes saw three more infested, each holding hostage Sakura, Grandpa and Al. Each infested had an arm around the neck of their captives, while another hand had black tendrils poking out of their fingertips, flickering eagerly as potential throats were mere millimeters away. "DON'T! I…"

"You can trust my words, Nikanaru, when I say that I doubt my desire to infest these sad little creatures is any greater than your desire for me to do so." The mouth of Souta continued in his ever-sickeningly evil tone. "If you'd have just been a good, obedient little dog, then I wouldn't have to resort to this." The hate was back. Oh, Gods, Max hated him. He wanted nothing more than to tear over there and, ethics-be-damned, rip those people threatening his family to shreds. But he wouldn't dare. The tables had way turned, and Max cursed his own stupidity for not seeing this coming as he saw tears leaking down the eyes of his trembling grandmother.

"…What do you want?" He spoke incredibly quietly, it apparent that he was withholding all his rage.

"I told you. All I want is you. All I want is to go back."

"Back?"

"Yes, back. Out of this wretched place. Back to the rest of me, where we can rejoin."

"What!"

"I speak of the world we came from. You and I…we'll both go back." Max digested his words.

_The well…he's talking about…oh, no._

"The well won't work." Max cautiously warned him. "I tried it already." Naraku scoffed at this.

"Knowing you and your incompetence with mystical energies, I don't doubt that. But with myself in command of your abilities, I WILL make it open." Max felt himself shaking a little, but pushed back the feeling.

"…So…" He continued, his throat drying up. "If I let you…possess me…you'll go back through the well, and you'll free everyone here? And never come back?"

"I never said that. Quite presumptuous of you."

"Well, those are my terms!" A growl once again coating Max's words. "If you let them go, and never come back here, fine, I don't care what happens to me." He took a moment to stare into the eyes that should have belonged to his uncle, just to let Naraku know how uncompromisingly serious he was right now. "But I swear to God, if you kill them, I then I will kill you, kill any body you are in, and I will hunt down every last one until you've got no fucking where else to run to." Naraku allowed another pregnant pause to pass, manipulating Souta's face as if to seem as though he were considering the "offer".

"…Very well." Smiling a smile that oozed with dread, the Infested Souta approached Max, raising his hand and extending the dark tendrils out of his fingertips. Max took a sudden step back.

"And how do I know I'll keep your word?" He inquired dangerously.

"You don't." Naraku/Souta harrumphed. "But rest assured, these pitiful human bodies, along with this world, mean less than nothing to me. I don't care enough to keep them, and they're hardly even worth the effort to kill. You, and only you, are the one that I want. After that, they can all resume their lives and rot for all I care." When the body of Souta took another step foreword, Max stepped back and growled anew.

"I see. So you are going to force me to lower myself into taking the lives of these insects?" Sakura screamed when she felt the ever-so-slight whipping of a tendril slicing a razor-thin-slit on the surface of her skin.

"NO! OKAY!" Max jumped back foreword. "Just…uh…please don't."

"Don't keep trying my patience, Nikanaru. I grow bored of this." Naraku/Souta walked right up to Max, himself trembling slightly.

"MAX, NO!" He had to shut his eyes not to look at his grandmother's face…

_Look at her. Christ, this could be the last time you ever see her._ With as much effort as he could, Max stared directly into the eyes of Sakura. It shattered his heart to see her in such a state of horror, fear and tears. But it also reminded her of just how much he loved her…how he knew that he'd do anything for them, because they'd already done everything for him.

"For God's sakes, Max, we're old! Forget about us and RUN!" Grandpa screamed as well. Taking a second to look his Great Grandfather in the eyes, Max was reminded of how these people…biologically related to him or not…were some of the most wonderful, generous people he'd ever known.

He'd never even known for certain whether or not they were his real family. Despite Sakura's firm claims that he was Kagome's son, Max had always had doubts about how true that could really be. But it never mattered. They raised him. They loved him. They took such risks to give him a life, and give him some happiness. Ever since he'd been old enough to truly known what he was and why his being in this family was an act of benevolence, rarely did a day go by where he wasn't grateful to them. They were his family.

He'd never even given his own mortality any thought before this day, but knew instantly that he would gladly die for them. Even if it meant at this young an age, he was nothing but happy to have had the privilege to be a part of their lives.

He then looked over at Al, and almost laughed. She hardly looked scared at all…rather confused, and he couldn't blame her one bit. Poor girl, she'd picked the exact wrong moment to become closer to him. But at least her loss would be comparatively minimal.

"Don't worry." He managed to call out to them, a calm in his expression that was faked incredibly well. "Everything's going to be…fine." Forcing himself away from them, he begrudgingly looked at his uncle Souta's face, no longer featuring of any of the warm, buddy-like, surrogate-older-brother characteristics that he'd always had to Max. No, he was addressing the bastard who was doing all this, and was robbing him of a final chance to see his uncle. He allowed all that hatred to be spat out in his next words. "They WILL…right?"

"Don't insult me. When I have you, they will be fine, so long as they are wise enough not to earn my irritation between now and my departure." Now face-to-face, Max and Naraku looked each other dead on, Max not daring to give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing fear in him. He cloaked it all, and met his bored gaze with a steely gaze.

"……All right. Get it over with."

Naraku didn't need any more prodding. With his wickedest smile yet, he simply placed his hands on Max's chest and allowed the tendrils to rip easily through the fabric of Max's shirt and into his skin.

_DdddRRAAAEEEEERRRGGGGHHHFFF---_

_

* * *

_

There it was again.

The power. The pure, sorely missed feeling of true power.

This was it.

The joy. The exctasy. The power.

THIS was it.

Naraku, at long last felt it again.

The POWER.

Yes…

He was HIS.

_**End Chapter Nine.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**A/N: Oh, did I say "A few weeks?" I'm sorry, what I meant to saw was "A few months." Heh. Common mistake.**

…**heh.**

**So, uh…sorry. I'm not treating my readers very well, am I? If you can swallow this, half of this chapter got deleted in the mid-writing process, which was a major setback. And I just haven't had the free time I've been hoping for. Plus, I once again tried to cram too much into this chapter until I decided to ease up and leave something for the next chapter. I think I'm going to just have to start making them shorter.**

**I want to say that I'll have the next chapter out in a few weeks, but…well, I'll just get it done when I can. I can't make anyone any false promises, but by God, I'll do it eventually.**

**So, are you mad? Yell at me, or something. Just hit that review button and scream. Or say something constructive, I really want to know how you feel about the direction this fic is taking. Whatever, I'm just a god damned fetishist for that button. You hit it, I receive a spoonful of glee…or something maybe less weird and awkward-sounding. **

**Signing off,  
**

**Koday.  
**


	10. FLASHback

**Previous Chapter Illustration:**

**www. deviantart. com /view/ 29345462/**

(Remember, copy, paste, and then close the spaces.)

I had a hell-iest hell of a time trying to figure how to make their eyes glow in just such a way that they look spooky an' scary, an' shit. I really Hope this does the trick.

That's Infested Souta at the front of the pack, by the way. How axe-murdery is that expression? Oh, and those are infestation tendrisl popping and wiggling out of his finger tips. Eeewww.

Those eyes in back, though, I copied and pasted off an official Naraku image.

Also, a little note: I edited chapter four and added a quasi-masturbation scene.

Yes, you that read right.

_**Nikanaru**_

**Chapter 10**

FLASHback

_Or_

Vomit, Violence and Competitive Penises

She should have known better.

But perhaps she had known, somewhere deep within herself, ever since day one. It may have been that it was an idea so terrible and saddening that she'd pushed it away from her mind, never giving it the chance to surface and become a conscious thought.

He was given to her a baby. An infant with a completely clean slate. He'd been innocent of all sin, free of a past that could haunt him, free of vice and hatred. It hadn't mattered to her where he'd come from. It hadn't mattered what he was. All that was important was that he was a pure, fresh life that had been entrusted by whatever act of fate into her hands. And she'd been determined beyond all determination to give him a life that was his. That was defined by who he was, and not what he was.

At least, that was the principle by which she raised him by. But what he was, was something that she'd barely even understood. Something that she'd spent most of her life believing to be a myth. Who was she to say that she could guarantee him innocence? Who was she to say that she could absolve him of whatever his being a demon would mean for him?

She couldn't. She was ignorant. Ultimately, all she could offer him were words and rhetoric. She could always tell him that she loved him unconditionally, and that whatever kind of creature he was would never have a gripping effect on his life. All she could ultimately hope to do was protect him from his own fears and doubts, as they were the only things that she believed could ever hurt him.

What's more was perhaps her own selfishness in the matter. From whence she'd been ripped of one child, a pain unfathomable for any caring mother, another child had, through whatever act of fate, been delivered unto her care. Just having Max around, caring for him, raising him, and watching with pride as he grew into a young man, demon, or whatever it is that he was…it had brought a light into her life. A light that she, by her own admission of weakness, had desperately needed.

Nothing could have been done to fill the void left in her heart by Kagome's disappearance, just as nothing could be done to fill any void in her heart that would be left if, God forbid, something ever happened to Souta. But just having Max around…he didn't fill any void left by Kagome, but he did earn a new place in Sakura's heart. A brand new part of her life that managed to give her joy in addition to the son she still had left. Max had become a part of her life in the same way that her two children had been, and she could never fathom losing him either.

And that is, perhaps, why she chose to delude both herself and him into believing they could live here peacefully and be safe, demon inheritance or not.

She should have known better.

And now, she was paying the price for her delusion. Or rather, Max was.

Horror and resignation simultaneously coursed through her as she watched her adopted grandson trade his life for theirs. She wanted desperately to at least tell him how sorry she was, but there was nothing left to do but see him convulse backwards as Naraku infested him…

* * *

**Eight Years Ago**

There was a certain irony to having a demon child who was already disguised with a mystic crystal dressed over with yet another layer of costuming. But Sakura could hardly care about any of the semantics.

What mattered above all, as far a she was concerned, was that Max looked undeniably ADORABLE in that little businessman outfit. A nudge to Souta indicated that she wanted him to start filming, seeing as how the curtain going up hadn't tipped him off. She'd assigned that task to him, seeing as how she simply couldn't figure out how to operate these latest camcorders, no matter how idiot-proof they supposedly were. With a grumble, Souta obligingly filmed.

"What?" She whispered over to him.

"Just sympathizing with the poor squirt."

"What do you mean?"

"Eh…just remembering when they made me do a stupid school play like this."

"Stupid? I love these things."

"Well of course YOU do. Meanwhile, all us kids have to degrade ourselves in front of a bunch of cooing parents wearing stupid costumes and reciting lines written by a some failed children's story author. This is pretty much the public humiliation of the primary school curriculum."

"Oh, nonsense." Grandpa huffed at him. "Just because they made you one of the flying monkeys…"

_Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God._ "Petrified" didn't even begin to describe what Max felt when those curtains arose. There were people out there. Lots and lots of PEOPLE! All focused on him! It was an damn good thing he only had to stand there for the first few minutes of the play while the other kids recited the introductory lines. Frankly, he didn't think he could move if he tried.

"Things were not well on the Island of Magical Oni. A terrible sickness had stricken all the faeries and pixies, so they could not deliver happiness to the people of the world…" Hikari went on with her introductory narration.

It hadn't at all been like this in rehearsal. There'd been no people there, and no pressure…it had just been him and his class fooling around! Being put on a stage and having a sea of people all looking on him with expectations instilled a kind of stage fright in him that made him wish he'd actually paid attention during the teacher's pep-talk rather than having a funny-face contest with Joe.

When Sari stopped speaking, that was his cue. Panic gripped him instantaneously, as he looked out over the audience and the play paused, waiting for him to deliver his line.

"Uh…uh…" His pipes felt as useless as the rest of him. All those eyes focused right on him felt like a massive pressure pushing up against any of the words trying to come out of his mouth. "…ah…" Seconds passed with Max unable to speak, everyone, especially the other kids onstage, expecting him to DO something. A cough from the audience was more audible than he was right now.

Finally, he spotted Souta, Grandpa and his Sakura in the audience. He kept his eyes squarely on them for a few more seconds as though they were his comfort zone. Sensing his stage fright, as it was quite painfully obvious at the moment, Sakura motioned with her hand for Max to just go for it.

Looking back onto the audience, Max shiveringly opened his mouth to deliver his line. He'd get it out there, no matter how scared he was…

"HhhHHUUUURRRAAAAAGGGHHPPHHHPPLLL!" Instead, what he got out there was puke.

Now, hunched over as he was, Max was way too mortified to even look up after pulling a number like that. Gasps and murmurs of disgust were being elicited all over the auditorium, and Max pretty much felt like dying right then and there. Out loud from over all those murmurs, someone burst out in a fit of laughter.

Looking up, he saw none other than Souta slapping his knees in hysteria. Max would've though that Souta was making fun of him if not for the thumbs up his uncle gave him, as if telling Max "Well done!" Despite themselves, Sakura and Grandpa couldn't seem to keep themselves from chuckling as well. Their laughter appeared to have a rolling effect on a few other members of the audience, many of whom joined in the giggling.

The real funny thing, though, was that just seemed to do it for Max. It was as though he'd expulsed all his fear and anxiety from his body (in addition to his lunch). Sort of like when you get dizzy and hurl, then instantly feel better after. Giving his mouth a quick wipe, Max stood back up straight and delivered his line with fearless zeal:

"But despite this terrible sickness, the people of the Island of Magic Oni were determined to perform their sworn duties, no matter what." Roaring laughter came forth from the entire audience. Max looked out over the sea of people with a huge smile.

"Did you get that?" Sakura called to Souta over the laughter.

"Are you kidding?"

* * *

**Present**

He felt like throwing up.

_Wh…arrgh. Why is…Oh, Christ, it HURTS!_

It was kind of akin to phantom pain; that thing that happens when you lose a limb, but your mind still fools you into thinking you can feel it. Max had just lost all feeling in his stomach, and said feeling was so icy cold that he mistook it for sheer pain. He'd gladly vomit just so he could make sure that his stomach was still inside him.

It was happening again; everything felt as though it were happening in slow motion, like it had those other times earlier today. The dark tendrils from Naraku penetrated into his system less than a full second ago, but every agonizing fraction of a second felt as if it were a minute. Even now, he could see the spit he'd coughed out at his first convulsion still dangling in the air in front of his face.

The darkness was spreading throughout his body, and he damned whatever force of nature decided that he'd have to experience it in such a torturously slow way. At this frozen moment, all that was with him during what would be his final moments was, alongside the pain and the floating spit, the visage of his uncle, warped miles away from the friendly face he'd always known.

Not wanting this to be the last thing he'd ever see, Max forced his eyes shut while he could still control them enough to do so. Again, it had felt like the task took several moments when it had really taken a shorter burst of time than one might ordinarily even notice. When each lid connected with its opposite, he could resign himself to the oncoming darkness, with only his thoughts and memories to keep him company.

* * *

**Six Years Ago**

The Haunted Horror of Hamburg: Part III

"Bingo!" He'd wanted to see this one for a long time, but the opportunity for it had been an elusive one. Tonight, with his mom and grandpa out for some historical society meeting, Souta could finally bring this blood n' guts fright-fest home and watch it without having to worry about the extreme content offending his elders. "Okay, squirt, you got yours?"

"Yeah." The kid followed behind. "I got Hurricane Squad Movie."

"Haven't you seen that already?"

"Five times! It's that awesome!"

"Heh…must be. C'mon." He motioned as he headed for he cash.

After the credits had rolled on that weird little kiddie anime his nephew was so obsessed with, Souta prepared for his grown-up theatrical enjoyment. A new bowl of popcorn, some more soda and…Max? The kid was still sitting on the couch, awaiting Souta's movie.

"Hey, shouldn't you be going off to bed?"

"Huh?"

"It's nine. It's a school night."

"I don't sleep much. Remember?" If he hadn't been carrying food in both hands right now, Souta would have smacked himself. He'd completely forgotten to take Max's unique sleeping routine into account when planning this out. Originally, he'd intended to sit through Max's movie, send him off to bed and then watch his R-rated horror flick in privacy. This was, according to the rave reviews, an exceptionally bloody and explicit feature, not at all suitable for ten-year olds. His mother wouldn't approve of this at all.

"Well…why don't you go play some computer games up in your room?" He tried, hoping that might keep Max occupied for the next hour and a half.

"Uh…why? I wanna see your movie, too."

"I…well, I kinda wanted to watch this one alone." At the look on Max's crestfallen face, Souta wished he'd had chosen his words more carefully. Although Souta was technically his uncle, Max had taken after him as though he were his big brother. It showed in the way he would sometimes follow Souta around like a loyal puppy and always want to do all the thing he did…soccer, video games, giant robo model kits (although that one was to remain strictly between the two of them)…

Plus, the fact that Souta didn't want Max seeing this movie only made it that much more appealing to the kid.

"Pleeeaase?"

"Now, you sure you want to see this? This is a really scary movie."

"So?" He courageously shot back. "I'm a man."

"Uuuuhhh…so you are. Okay, you can watch this, but don't tell mom I let you, all right? If you're a man, then this is a secret between men."

"You mean like those model kits we…"

"Secrets mean we don't talk about them, Max!"

"Oh… Righty-o then!"

* * *

20 minutes into the movie, Max was backed up against the cushions of the sofa, clutching his own tail like a security blanked as the suspenseful music crept out the television speakers. The poor little demon looked as though he wanted to just tuck his face behind it for the remainder of the film, but then he'd occasionally glace to Souta sitting next to him, crunching away at his popcorn and watching with zeal. This encouraged Max to try to "man" his way through the scary parts. 

Not completely oblivious to the youngling's discomfort, Souta would occasionally tell him:

"You don't have to watch this if you don't want to, you know." But Max would always reply with a quick shaking of his head. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of one of his role models.

* * *

An hour into the movie, the kid was on the edge of his seat, staring bent-over, wide-eyed at the screen, tail and feet wagging in excitement. That ominous music was playing again, a classic indication that at any moment one of the movie's protagonists was about to be offed. 

"Oh man, oh man, ohmanohman, here it comes!" Souta was really not sure what to make of the almost bubbly glee with which Max anticipated the upcoming onscreen death. His eyes turned back to the screen just in time to jump at the character's sudden and very grisly demise.

"COOL!" Max squealed in delight. "Did'ja see that? He totally got split into, like, five pieces! Man, this is SO wicked!"

Souta was scared, but not on account of anything in the movie. Now Max would have to be talked to about the difference between fantasy violence and the real-life kind. Usually, these kinds of lectures were his mother's domain, but that would mean making her aware that Souta had allowed Max to watch this in the first place. So that left…

"What…did…you…do?" He quietly chastised himself.

* * *

**Present**

His body was pretty well infested now. He could feel the spreading darkness all throughout him. He wasn't even sure where he was or what he was doing now. Guessing, he could be on the ground would be a safe one, as he'd been falling down when he'd shut his eyes. And now, he could feel the first inklings of the same darkness invading his mind.

_Pfff…and they say the mind is always the first thing to go…I…AAAHH!_ Having the infestation spreading throughout his body was a horrific sensation, certainly, but it was like nothing next to the feeling of it hitting you in the head. When you start to have involuntary movements in your muscles, it's akin to a spasm. But when your mind starts having involuntary thoughts, it's like a nightmare. Only a nightmare you couldn't wake yourself up from.

But it was when it hit his mind that Max, in his fleeting moments of consciousness, experienced feelings and thoughts that clearly weren't his own. No, these emotions were malicious, horrible, deadly, dark kinds that came at him like an invasive swarm of bats. They could only belong to Naraku.

Feeling the same thoughts, the same emotions as Naraku, what was left of Max's conscious mind snapped back into alertness.

_No!_

* * *

**Two Years Ago**

"No?" Grandpa repeated the words of the stingy tourist as though they were bile. "How could he say 'no' to this? This is a one-of-a-kind sutra!"

"No it isn't." Countered Max, coming up to the souvenir booth carrying a stack of boxes.

"Well, he didn't know that!" The poor old man leaned against the interior of the booth. "Sales had been lousy these last couple of months."

"Hey, we are in a recession." The boy offered as he set the boxes down.

"Pff! I've been through more recessions than I've been through underwear and I've always come out on top." Bragged the old man, missing entirely his great-grandson's repulsed expression. "I don't understand…am I losing my sales technique?"

"I dunno, but I'm guessing you might've insulted the guy when you told him the sutra was a remedy for impotence."

"What? That's a hot ticket selling point. Look at how lucrative those hanky-panky drugs have been doing lately!"

'_Hanky-panky drugs'? Oh, dear Lord._

"I know, but that still probably shouldn't have been the very first thing you said to him." As he finished placing all the merchandise on the shelves, Max turned around to see Grandpa giving him the glare of all glares.

_Holy shit, what did I do!_

"Okay, wise-guy, then why don't you take the next customer?"

"Huh?"

"You think you're so smart? Think you can trump sixty-plus years of sales experience? Fine. Show me."

"Wha…no, I didn't mean…"

"Oh, what? Scared now? Afraid to put your money where your mouth is, kiddo?"

_Oh, Chrissakes…_ Much as Max loved the geriatric, sometimes the old guy could be just a childish as…well, Max. And the kid was hardly one to turn down a challenge.

"Fine." He haughtily stated, striding up to the counter. "Sales you want, sales you shall have." The two trash-talked each other for several more minutes until a new tourist approached at the booth.

"Goo-o-o-od afternoon." Max began, sounding perhaps a bit too much like a used car salesman. "What can we do for you this fine day?" The man looked over the trinkets and such in the booth, until he picked up a cheap, but pretty-looking wooden figurine.

"This is nice." The man mused, turning it over in his hands.

"Yeeaah…" Max replied disinterestingly. "…that's one of the more popular ones. Not really that effective, though."

"Excuse me, 'effective'?"

"See, that's one of those mass-produced trinkets, made to be cheap and pretty-looking for tourists." He explained. "It's actually the uglier ones, like, say, this charm here that's best to ward off evil-spirits." At this, the man scoffed.

"Uh…sure. Listen, I'm just looking for something nice to bring home to my wife. No offense, but, just save this spirit crap for another some other sucker with a big wallet."

_Dammit!_ Max begrudgingly rang up the wooden figure, sparing the occasional glance at Grandpa, who wore an arrogant smirk that said it all. _God, he'd probably going to go on about this for the next week._ It was getting late, and they'd have to close up shop soon. It was likely that this would be their last client for the day, so there weren't going to be any other chances. Just as the man started to walk a few feet away…

"…The hell?" The man spun around again, his hand on the back of his neck as though something had just hit it. He looked all around for something, whatever it was, but couldn't find it anywhere.

"Something wrong, sir?" Max inquired.

"Something…brushed up against me. It felt like…fur or something."

"Oooh." Max exaggerated his expression of realization. "Neko."

"Wh..what?"

"Neko, the inu spirit." He explained further. "He's a dog spirit, but he's a bit of a pill because he got named after a cat. Apparently, his parents…kind of hated him."

"I…" The man jumped again when he felt the same brushing sensation right up in his face. He looked around again, and found nothing that could explain what he was feeling.

"Oh, don't worry, he's harmless." Max assured him. "He just likes to bug people. Eventually he'll get bored and leave you alone in a few days."

"D-days!" The man jumped again when he felt the same furry sensation brush up against his hand, almost making him drop the wooden figure.

"Wait…do you own a cat?" Max asked. "Because he totally has it in for cat people. Really stubborn around them." Dodging to the side as if anticipating another swipe by the invisible inu spirit, the man jumped over back to the booth.

"Do…do you have anything to…get rid of him?"

"Oh…uh, well, there's this charm here." He let the man examine a rock with an engraving on it. "This keeps him out of our house."

"I…" Feeling the brush against his back again, the man laid down the money on the counter and grabbed the rock. Taking a few steps back, the man held out the rock like a pistol, waving and pointing it in all directions. As no more brushes were felt, the man settled down and began to jog away.

"Sir, your change!" Max called out.

"K-keep it!" The man yelled back.

"Oh! Well thank you. Be sure to remember us the next time you get haunted!" He called out as the man left the shrine. When he was gone, Max turned around and waved the big, juicy bill boisterously in his great grandfather's face. Grandpa could only glare back at him.

"You…you did something didn't you?"

"Sorry, can't hear you. My money's too loud."

"Why…you cheated!" Grandpa accused, finger pointing and all. "You did something with that tail of yours, didn't you? You know you're not supposed to do that! And you tricked the clientele!"

"Let's see…'yes', 'yes', 'so what?', and…'yes'." For the longest moment, Max wore his arrogant smirk with pride while Grandpa narrowed his eyes at him. Then, in a sudden movement that one would never expect form a man in his eighties, Grandpa pulled Max into a big, loving hug.

"I-have-never-been-so-proud-of-you."

"Uh…?"

"Just…don't tell your grandmother."

"Uh…?"

* * *

**Present**

_No! No, no, no, no, no, NO! You lied! _

'Evil' is a word that gets thrown around an awful lot in modern society, so the real, fundamental meaning of the word tends to become diluted in people's minds. Max was no different. He'd used "evil" to describe such nuisances as telemarketers, mosquitoes, that one cafeteria lady …

It wasn't until that moment, that very moment were he was able to feel, however lightly, the mind of Naraku, that he truly understood the significance of that word. There was simply no other single word that could be used to properly describe what he sensed in Naraku …it was rage… hatred… jealousy… deceit… greed… lust… darkness… torment… all of it. All of the worst conceivable emotions for a person to have.

_YOU LIED!_

Everyone has those emotions. Max certainly did. But what was so abhorrent about Naraku was that all of these feelings were…reveled within. They weren't just there, they were DOMINANT. Whenever Max had felt any of these dark emotions, it had always been a result of something happening to make him feel that way, and had usually receded with time. But with Naraku, nothing had to stimulate these feelings, they were already there. Naraku's soul bathed in them like warm water.

Even though only the barest amount of Naraku's mind had made itself apparent in Max's, the sheer darkness emanating from it was choking him. If a person's mental state could be regarded as something more physical and tangible, then Max's was being grabbed and attacked with a swarm of glowing red hatred that he'd never have imagined was possible for anyone to possess.

_You BASTARD!_

And it was in feeling that touch of evil, just getting the merest sense of how Naraku's mind worked, that Max realized what a huge mistake he'd just made.

There was no way in hell Naraku was going to let his family go.

He'd lied. Max could feel the deceit. It was swallowing him up, and he couldn't do a damned thing about it.

* * *

It was rather impressive the way Al had managed to keep herself alert and responsive, even flowing neck-deep as she was in chaos, hostility and utter confusion. 

The Higurashi family was being attacked by some unnatural being that could possess multiple bodies: that's all she'd been able to garner about the current situation, but she was nevertheless able to reach than conclusion and simply accept it at face value, without letting herself be paralyzed by the zillions of underlying questions it presented her with. Who, what, when, where, how and why were, at the moment, irrelevant. What was important was what she knew now, and that she just went with that.

The problem was, there wasn't much anywhere she could go. An arm by one of said possessed people still held an iron grip around her neck, and she wasn't stupid enough to give him a reason to squeeze. Like both Sakura and Grandpa, all she could do was watch as…whatever this thing was, did…something to Max.

Whatever that "something" was triggered a series of seemingly involuntary spasms and seizures in Max, just like it had done to Souta. Max was on his knees, trembling horribly and making throaty growls, a kind of monstrous sound that could never have been made by any human. She'd never heard anything like it before, but there was no mistaking it was an indication of the pain Max was in.

She didn't care that she didn't understand the situation. Or that she didn't even fully understood Max. She still knew him well enough to know that he was, in spite of his fair share of flaws, a good person and didn't deserve this. She wanted to do something about it, but, for the life of her, couldn't.

But hadn't that always been the way things went? Most of her life, she'd given so many of her thoughts and prayers to injustices and wrongs happening throughout the world, yet had scarcely lifted a finger to do anything about it. Not since…not since her parent's divorce. Not since all the fighting and her epiphamic realization of how useless all effort was. Not since she'd decided for herself what a horrible and hopeless place this world, and its people were. She hated this place, and resigned herself to simply living in it, no matter how angry the stupidity of humanity made her. She wouldn't contribute to the problems of the world, but she couldn't bring herself to try and stop them if she was only to be met time and time again with the heartbreaking failure. It was inevitable, since that was, after all, human nature.

Watching Max keeling over in pain, she gripped the arm contracting around her throat. Frustration made her pinch into it while tears threatened her dry cheeks. The Infested holding on to her didn't even acknowledge her actions. He too, seemed enthralled with the sadistic beauty of seeing the demon boy's agony.

Somehow, she found that she couldn't just resign herself to failure. What was happening now was too intense, too dramatic to ignore. She felt the desire again…the desperate desire to DO something. Anything to stop the horror happening around her. The sheer wanting now was too powerful to become suppressed like her previous altruistic aspirations. She WANTED to help. She wanted to do ANYTHING at all, rather than just stand and resign herself to useless misery again.

How ironic that the one time in years she truly wanted to make a difference again, she couldn't. Ironic that even though she knew she'd be doomed to failure if she tried, the same failure that was the reason she hadn't even bothered with more trivial problems than this… she still couldn't stop wanting to. Squeezing her eyes shut, all she could do was mutter a plea, useless as she knew it to be, but unable to stop herself all the same, to whatever was listening.

"Please…" She chocked out though her tight throat, releasing all her irrational hope into her voice. "…please…just please make it stop…"

Someone must have been listening, because it did.

* * *

**One Year Ago**

Another ethnic war breaks out in some South African country. The U.N. and all powerful countries in a position to help won't do dick. It wasn't the exact headline of the article, but that pretty much summed it up. Why on earth did she even read these things?

"Bullshit!"

"Dude, I swear to God I'm not kidding."

"What, like, with Sary?"

"Gee, who the hell else have I been dating for the last five months?"

"Well, I figure the only chick willing to give it up to you must be one who didn't know you that well."

"Fuck you, virgin."

"What was it like?" Joe, Kato, Max, Ciro and Dai's voices were regrettably clear as Dai bragged quite loudly to his flabbergasted friends. Suddenly surrounded by 11th grade mentality, Al remembered why burying her face in newspapers was, despite it all, the preferable option.

"Well…" Dai's confidence was a little shaken as he seemed to search for the right words.

"What?" Joe inquired.

"We didn't…we didn't go all the way." Dai finally admitted. "I just got sort of in between second and third base." An air of utter disappointment hit the rest of the group.

"The hell, dude, you said she made a man out of you!" Ciro growled.

"She did! Boob-touching is the line you cross to achieve manhood!"

"No, it's full-contact sex, you loser! Ask anyone!" Max spat at him.

"Loser? Excuse me, would everyone here who has held a tit in their own hands please raise their arm?" At his own suggestion, Dai immediately raised his. The rest of the group sheepishly left their arms pinned by gravity. "Yeah, maybe you should all shut up."

"Fine…then what did those feel like?" Joe asked again.

"Oh, man, it was awesome! They're just like bowls of…"

"Hey, assholes." Al finally called over. All five assholes turned around. "I'm pretty sure Sary's not going to be ecstatic about you discussing her mammary glands right in goddamned public." Her words hit Dai the same that indignation did, and irritation came pouring in droves out of four of them. Only Max cringed a little, sensing an oncoming shouting match.

"Look, cunt-rag…" Dai began, voice seething with venom. "…why don't you take your holier-than-thou bullshit and…"

"What?" Max loudly interrupted. "It's not like women don't discuss guys' wangs when they get a glance at 'em." All heads snapped back around to address Max's statement.

"They…what the fuck? They do!" Kato sounded genuinely concerned about that.

"…No we don't." Stated Al.

"Oh, maybe you don't." Max continued, addressing Ciro. "Remember how I once overheard this conversation Son's girlfriend was having with her gal pals? You know… the one where Son bends a few degrees to the right?"

"No shit?" Dai asked.

"Nope. We're being rated, boys." The guys all paused to look each other over. Where there was once an air of fraternity between men united by love of breasts, there was a sudden tension created by everyone wondering whom amongst them would have the most critically acclaimed shlong.

"I'd totally get the Academy Award."

"Up yours, you wouldn't even get an honorable mention!"

"Hey, you know…they, uh, they say it's not the tools, it's how you use them." Kato semi-nervously kidded.

"Fine, so you'd walk away with best special effects. Now, me, I'd bring home the best performance award!"

"Yo, I would totally nail the best stunts category."

"Yeah, you need some actual production values to qualify that, buddy."

"I wonder if there's a category for best costume design?"

"Dude, seriously, what the hell?"

The anger they had had against Al was long forgotten as the gang quickly began delving into more fictitious penis-awards they could get nominated for. As they walked away, Max discreetly ducked out of the conversation he'd masterfully instigated so a fight could be avoided, and took a seat next to Al.

"You okay?" He asked with some genuine concern. "You seem a little moreso irritable today." Max had a talent for diffusing tense situations, but she wondered why he had even bothered with her. Just yesterday, the two of them were having a spiteful argument about a 20-yen tax-hike at the supply store to help improve the school's recycling program. The funny thing was, Max was pretty rare to anger, and even when he did, it was quickly forgotten the next day, usually with him making some overbearing gesture of conciliation. In this case, saving Al from a fight by making his friends self-conscious about their manhoods.

"You know." She conceded to his sympathy to some extent. "Just the same old crap." Max leaned over a bit to look at the headline of the periodical in her hand, and "ooh"ed in understanding. As he did, she didn't resist an urge she had to just glance quickly at his golden pupils and those strange markings on his face…the ones nobody else but her seemed to see.

That was her odd little joy in life. She may never come to understand why she saw what she did whenever she looked at Max, but she was glad she could. The fact that there was something unique to this world, something that the stupidity and greed of this people couldn't see and couldn't touch, it gave her the comfort that not everything was completely depressing. The sight was hers and hers alone to behold, even it was something intangible…or, alternatively, a sign of her own insanity. She just…loved the aesthetics of this creature she saw, whatever the reason she did, and she loved the bit of peace it offered her.

"Well, you know what I do whenever I'm down?" Grinning goofily in anticipation, she sensed another bout of stupidity was about to exit his mouth. "I like to just…sing." Oh, Lord, had she ever called it. " You remember, those old kiddie show songs? Got my spirits up when I was three, and they still do today!"

"Max…" And this was the whole problem. Max had this most unique and wondrous appearance, one of the few things in this world she could actually look foreword to and enjoy, plus he had an overly friendly and forgiving personality, making it nearly impossible for her to drive him away. But that character would infuriatingly always prove, sooner or later, to have the same immaturity, the same deliberate hedonism that plagued the rest of the world.

"Remember this one?…_ Do you…_ Actually, I forget most of the words, but it went something like this: _Do you know the Captain_…uh…something…_Ooo ooo, oooo ooo. What do you think he'd gonna do? Hoooray for the Captain! Make way for the Captain!_" Oh, she kenw that one, all right…an old Captain Kangaroo song. There was an ethic war gong on that will likely result in a death toll in the thousands, and he was singing a goddam Captain kangaroo song.

"Max…" She repeated more firmly, fixing him with a murderous glare that could stop a bullet cold. "…no matter how depressed I am or will be, I will always be in a constant state of readiness to reach out and strangle you the second you start singing."

"Eesh. You and the rest of the world. I'm not THAT bad, am I?" Again! Again he took a serious threat and diffused it into a joke. Another moment passed with the two of them sitting there in silence. "Look…" Max began as he sat up, a merciful seriousness now in his voice. "…there's this meditative gathering that my Great Grandpa leads at the Shrine every Thursday night. If you want to try and get out of your funk and focus yourself…well, it's something."

Meditation? Well, that is something she'd never given much consideration to. Personally, she didn't put much stock in those kinds of new-age… or old-age therapy junk, but it certainly beat trying to distract oneself with sitcoms.

"Maybe." She conceded. "Uh…thanks."

"Not at all." He cheerfully said while giving her a quick noogie on the head and retreating before she could retaliate. "See you later."

As he descended down the halls, his back turned to her, Al look the opportunity to gaze at that giant, poofy tail resting on his shoulders, swinging this way and that to avoid passersby. The slight tug at the side of her lips was barely visible.

* * *

**Present**

"EEEYYAAAARRGGHH!" The arm around Al's neck snapped away as though it had been dunked in molten lava. Opening her eyes and spinning around in confusion, Al completely missed the dying pink glow emanating from her hands as the Infested man clutched his arm in agony. Specifically, he nursed what appeared to be singe marks where those dark veins underneath his skin once were …somehow, they'd been burnt off.

As mentioned, Al had an impressive ability to act as opposed to react in a given situation. So she only allowed herself to stand dumbfounded and wonder what the hell had just happened for only two seconds until she wisely decided to take advantage of the situation. Making a dash for where she saw Max now rolling on the ground, spasming violently, she moved as fast as she could before the mob of Infested closed in on her.

"Get away from him!" Naraku/Souta turned around, acknowledging the approach of the girl. A flash of his hand, and Al's throat was surrounded by powerful fingers, cutting off her oxygen.

"Interesting." He mused, only entertained as she clutched at his arm desperately. He pulled her in closer, examining her terrified eyes with his own violet ones. "I was right. You do have some holy powers." Not understanding what he'd meant by that, she was only deadly relieved when he relaxed his grip just enough to allow her to breathe again. He stared at her still while she gasped and coughed in new air, appearing to wait patiently for her to finish so that he could properly address her again. "Good. Infesting you will be a little bit more of an effort, but with Nikanaru doing it for me, that shouldn't be a problem." The grip maliciously increased pressure again. "In fact, you'll be the first one."

Suspended slightly in the air, just barely on the tip of her toes, she looked over to Max again. Now he lay on the ground barely moving at all, as if in his final death throes, just as Souta had been before his infestation was complete.

"Mrr…m-Max…"

* * *

_Al?_

Through all the invading darkness and through all the panic, his ears had just barely been able to pick up what sounded like his oldest friend calling his name.

…No, in fact, that wasn't all. Now that he was listening, he also heard the sound of his grandmother and great grandfather screaming out for him in the distance too.

And now, this deep into Naraku's infestation as he was, he could also swear hearing his uncle's screams…a scream from one dying soul to another.

_NO!_

Resist. He had to try to resist again! Do everything possible to push back against the evil that was suppressing his own soul in his body. He knew now, having brushed minds with Naraku, as horrendous an experience as it was, that the devil had no intention of leaving this place in peace. It was a soul filled with an almost preposterous amount of hatred, and would never leave innocent lives be.

_You can't have them!_

He'd been willing to sacrifice himself for their sake…ready to die…and for them, he'd also fight with every ounce of power his soul had left in it to. He'd fight the darkness!

_Grandma!_

His family…his friends…his entire world was in danger from this despicable creature!

_Grandpa!_

This world and these people he loved more than anything…no matter how badly it hurt, he pushed against the cover of darkness as hard as he could, looking for something, anything he could use to break through.

_SOUTA!_

But the darkness was everywhere. He clawed and clawed at it frenzily, but found nothing giving way. Still, this only made him push harder…force himself back into control of his body, no matter how much of this evil presence had swept over his being.

_AL!_

It became progressively fruitless. The darkness was about to cave in on him, crushing Max Higurashi once and for all. And with it, his hopes, his dreams, his life, his world. Everything was about to be smothered in this oozing hell, and no matter what he did, he couldn't stop it from happening.

_PLEASE! DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN! SOMEONE HELP! SOMETHING!_

_ANYTHING!_

_PLEA…_

Screams were drowned out when the Infestation was about to hit the last of him. Max's conscious mind was snuffed out.

…Only… it wasn't the infestation that had done so.

Something else answered Max's pleas.

Max had just woken something up.

* * *

"Hrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh…." 

She went from gasping for oxygen to yelping in pain when Naraku/Souta dropped her. Something urgent had caught his attention…something was going wrong with Max's infestation. It should have been finished by now, but the boy was shaking again…the renewed twitching becoming more and more violent, but not in the same way it had before; he was growling again, yet not in what sounded like it was pain…rather, it sounded aggressive; like he was fighting.

"Damn you, Nikanaru…" Not willing to take any chances, Naraku/Souta once again unleashed the tendrils from his fingertips and moved in to infest Max further.

"HrrAAARRRGH!" To the complete shock of the infested man, the demon's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Naraku/Souta's wrist. While still twitching violently, Max got on his knees, snarling horrendously, challenging Naraku with a glare right in his eyes. Again, Naraku was taken aback when he saw Max's eyes were glowing back and forth between the purple glow of the infested and… a strange, hazy blue light?

Max looked like a television receiving two conflicting signals from its antennae. Each shake and seizure his body had, each inhuman growl to escaped his lips represented a blow being fought from within him to purify himself of Naraku. With another raspy gasp, he suddenly jolted back, releasing Naraku/Souta's wrist. Sensing the opportunity, the infested man went in to deliver another dose of his tendrils, but Max recovered from the stun just in time jump to his feet and shove Naraku/Souta away with a powerful roar. Naraku went flying several feet back, while Max stumbled around on his feet, spasming all the more violently.

"M…Max?" Al slowly got to her knees, eyes on the strange spectacle presented before her. Breathing heavily, Max's eyes continued to flicker between a purple glow and a blue one. A solid burst of purple sent a fierce shock throughout him, elicited another loud growl and sent him to his knees. Naraku/ Souta had gotten back on his feet, he and all the other Infested now approaching the boy. Max seemed to double over while the infestation kept hitting him harder and harder.

Finally, his head snapped up, his back arched and his tail shot out as erupting from the depths of his throat emerged a feral roar, earsplitting in its sheer volume. While this sound shredded across the landscape, pupils once again shone hard blue light. Both the glow and the primal scream grew in intensity until it seemed like Max was about to burst.

"Max!" Al began crawling toward him, but was knocked back a moment later.

He did burst.

A flash. A light. A wave. An explosion. All could be used to describe what happened when Max's entire body lit up as blindingly as the sun, bathing the entire shrine grounds in white-hot luminance. Simultaneously, something that almost sounded like a bomb going off came out of him, as did a wave of…something.

She didn't know what it was that exploded out of Max. It didn't hit her physically or mentally, but she definitely felt it. She'd somehow felt it with a sense she didn't even know she had…almost as if the blast had slammed into her very soul. Whatever it was though, it hit hard and intense enough for her to stumble back in complete shock.

And this explosive pulse of soul-shaking energy blasted across the shrine grounds, down into the city, and off even further. It hit every single lifeform for miles around, but was actually felt by only few. Upon being blasted with it, the Infested all screeched as though they'd been hit with a wave of flames. Grandpa and Sakura were released, falling to the ground in confusion as their captors suddenly started wrenching about. The two of them felt absolutely nothing, only seeing and hearing the screaming white light coming from the body of their grandson. Every one of the Infested fell to the ground, still screaming and writhing, despite that, to the naked eye, nothing had touched them.

"**RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHH!"** Max's uncontrolled screaming still only became worse, as did the light. Unable to see at all, this light so intense, Al covered her eyes with one hand while crawling towards where she heard the screaming. Try as she might to call out his name, she couldn't even hear her own voice over Max's. He now boomed out across the horizon like an air raid siren, while the light itself became powerful enough to warm Al's very skin as she got closer. To some, it almost looked and sounded as though an atomic bomb had been detonated at the Higurashi Shrine.

Though blinded as she was, she reached out with her hand, feeling wherever she could to try and find him, still uselessly calling out his name. Infested or not, it was clear that Max was not in control of himself at the moment. Whatever was coming out of him, it was coming in wild, unrestrained waves, and only getting worse every second. A few moments of waving her hand through the maelstrom of light and waves of energy later, she finally latched on to one of his hands. As soon as she did, his hand clamped down on hers in an instant. The screaming suddenly stopped and the luminance faded out like a light bulb had been switched off.

…………_wh…uhu…what…what the hell?_ Glow faded from his eyes…golden pupils slowly dilated back into focus as the conscious mind that was Max Higurashi briefly returned into being. The first thing that happened was a reactionary intake of breath, as his lungs felt mortally depleted. This, in turn, made him realize what absolute pain his entire body was in, and that every muscle in his body was now uselessly limp. He was conscious again, but it wouldn't be for long.

The hairs on his head breezed back as his torso waved uncertainly in its upwards position. However subconsciously done, however possibly done, Max had output an immense amount of some kind of energy, and in doing so, had created a sort of vacuum of energy space around his immediate person. A swirling vortex began to form as that space began to fill itself up again.

Eyes focused foreword through barely opened lids as Max didn't even notice the wind picking up. His senses where slowly fading out, but before they could, he had to see at least one last thing. The view ahead of him blurred in and out of focus until he spotted the shapes of his grandmother and great grandfather off in the distance, looking back at him…and a few yards ahead of them was Souta's body, still breathing and now free of all those black tendrils.

_They're alive…_He smiled with his last, happy though before he plummeted foreword, now willing to allow the exhaustion to take him. Al caught managed to catch him in one arm, only strong enough to make sure that he didn't hit the pavement hard.

There wasn't any time afforded to either of them. Air imploded around them at an alarmingly fast rate, going form a strong wind to an outright hurricane. Dust and rocks from all over pelted them while she screamed, holding on to him for dear life. The vortex of gale force winds pulled and pulled from all directions, wind now screaming ferociously loud.

She felt herself being pulled in the very center of her being. Now scared beyond reason, all she could manage herself to do was just keep a grip on Max while burying her face in his chest.

* * *

Sakura had hurt her ankle when the Infested had dropped her, but she still tried desperately to limp over to Souta and Max. It almost helped that the wind had was nearly strong enough to pull her foreword. 

"Souta! Max!" Both of them were unconscious, though she'd seen Max give her one last smile before he went out. Whatever threats the Infested had posed, it looked like it was finished now. But now something else was going wrong. These unnatural winds were very nearly tearing her clothes to shreds. Grandpa, meanwhile, had hit the ground a bit harder than his daughter, and was unable to move. Regardless, he could still yell out for all of his children and grandchildren.

"Sakura! There's…there's something wrong with this wind!" He couldn't explain why he knew that, but there was unquestionably an occult element to the air blowing around them. It was not of this world, that much he was certain of. "You have to get away from it!" That's exactly what Sakura was trying to do, but she couldn't move fast enough. Max and a screaming Al were being pulled up a few feet off the ground, while Souta's limp body was slowly being dragged towards it.

With a desperate lunge, she managed to grab her son's leg, but that's all she could do. In the next instant, a massive sonic boom erupted.

The air suddenly then stilled. At last, the shrine was quiet again, with only a large group on unconscious people scattered around it. Looking around, Sakura sought out Max and Al, but couldn't seem to find them anywhere.

They were gone.

"M…mom?" Looking down at her barely conscious son, Souta struggled to open his eyes.

"Souta…" With the relief of any mother would have, Sakura wrapped her arms around him, sobbing gently.

"Mom…" He managed to whisper out. "He did it. He destroyed Na…" The man took another breath.

"Shhh…" She tried to still him. "Please, just breathe."

"…I felt it. Max… mom, he… saved us…all of us…" With those last words, Souta fell into consciousness.

"Max…" She looked up again, all around the Shrine, but he was nowhere in sight. That wonderful little boy who had brought so much joy back into her life was nowhere to be found. Just had fate had miraculously brought him into her life, so miraculously was he taken away.

He was gone.

Nothing left at the Higurashi Shrine but several unconscious bodies, an injured Grandfather, and a broken mother and her tears as held her one remaining child.

If Souta had been conscious just a bit longer, he would have told his mother something else too:

_**Mom, I saw it in Naraku's mind…**_

…_**Sis is still alive.**_

**End Chapter 10**

* * *

**A/N: …Aaaand BAM! Now the adventure really gets started! And that only took…ten chapters…shit.**

**…TEN chapters? Holy shit. I actually wrote ten whole fucking chapters! Sonuvagun, I almost feel kinda sorta maybe proud. I knew this story was going to be long when I started it, but it still feels pretty special just having made it into the double digits. And big thanks be to those of ye who've beengiving support and crits,thus keeping me inspired to keep going.**

**Cheapening the achievement, however, is the announcement that I'm trying shorter chapters from now on so that I don't have such huge lags in between updates. With any luck, this'll work out better for everyone.**

**By the by, I heard the most fascinating thing the other day: Apparently, authors really, _really _like reviews.**

**Isn't that wild?**

**Koday.**


	11. Not Kansas, That's for Damn Sure

**Previous Chapter Illustration**

www. deviantart. com/ view/ 30216169/

(Remember, copy, paste, and then close the spaces.)

This one's a bit of a doozy, because I want those little glimpses of Max's younger years to be clear while giant, current Max screams like a banshee. Lots of cutting and pasting here. I'm linking to the preview page so you can see the whole thing, then click on it so you can see the big picture.

Yes, look at the big picture, sports fans.

**BONUS**

www. deviantart. com/ view/ 30300781/

I guess you could call this the "cover art" for this story. I've been sitting on this for while now, but wanted to submit it at just the right time so that there were no visual spoilers for the story, though I guess there is still some if you look hard enough. Still, all those intros on anime shows get away with these shenanigans, so why the hell can't I?

_**Nikanaru**_

**Chapter 11**

Not Kansas, That's for Damn Sure

_Or_

Some Visuals in this Chapter have been Brought to you Courtesy of **Sleep Deprivation Inc.**

The very first thing he became aware of was the smell. Even before the waking world slowly managed to infiltrate his head, the smell had seeped into his unconscious mind, making his sleep a somewhat uncomfortable, guarded one. The aroma all around was so unnaturally…natural. T'was alarmingly unfamiliar. It was so clean, so pure, and so raw that he didn't think it was really possible for such a natural taste to exist.

_Uuugh…_ Max turned in his waning sleep, trying to shoo away from this uncomfortable sensation interrupting his beauty rest. _Uuh…what the hell? _Further awareness set in when he realized that his "bed" was, in fact, a very hard surface._ Aw, hell, are we camping again? I hate camping!_ Much to the protest of his weary eyelids, he commanded them to open and waited patiently for his vision to focus.

_Am I blind, or is it just dark out…? What the hell was I doing?_ Pulling himself into a sitting position, Max took in his surroundings in confusion. While it was taking a while for Max's eyes to adjust to the dark, he could tell he was in some sort of room. It smelled vaguely of wood, but once again the overall smell encompassing everything was disarmingly strange. It smelt like…nature, only amplified times a hundred. Sort of like how things smelled when he'd been in the forest out behind the house, or out in the woods on said detested camping trips. The weird thing was that this was an absolutely pure forest smell, without even the slightest trace of humanity. No buildings, no smoke, no cars, no… pollution, he guessed. No forests in Japan smelled this clean.

_Eh…I must just be stuffed up._ With the palm of his thumb, he removed the crust from his eyes with practiced caution, making sure not to scrape his corneas with his claw. _Now…what was I doing?_ This was something that hadn't happened since he'd been a kid. A few times, he'd slept over at a friend's house only to wake up in confusion at not being in his own room. That, however, hadn't happened since before he'd hit puberty, and even then he'd usually remembered where he was a few seconds after waking up.

So he simply sat there, waiting patiently an explanatory memory to come to him. Silence permeated through the night while he groggily sat for five seconds…ten seconds…thirty seconds… _Damn it. _Now out of patience, he tried scanned his memories for what he'd last been doing. _Let's see…I got up…ate some Raisin Brand, since Grandpa ate the last of my Lucky Charms…me Lucky Charms, they're always after 'em…ew, God, that didn't even sound funny in my mind. Uh, yeah, went to school… um… slept through math … slept through English… got smacked by Mr. Wong for trying to sleep through civics… then I got called in to the principal's office…I, um, …_

"…Max?" A soft voice appeared in the darkness, but its softness didn't keep it from scaring the pants off Max at its extremely sudden appearance. Meeting the direction of that voice, the platinum haired head snapped very nearly painfully to its right. It was still pretty dark, and Max could still only make out a shape, so he had yet to tell if he should be embarrassed about acting surprised or not.

"Yeah?" As he tended to do, he kept his tone relaxed and casual. Stupid pride kept him from acting as perplexed as he was. He didn't want whoever this was to think he'd…no wait, she'd gotten the drop on him. _Weird, though. Usually, I can smell someone before they're even close to me. Damn weird smells are throwing me off._

"You're…up." Now he recognized that voice! Al! He just hadn't spotted it immediately since the voice was without the usually sullen dryness that it was usually drenched in. As a matter of fact, the voice was not only without said bitterness, but held a great deal of… concern? Weird, considering that all it had done was observe that he woke up.

"Uh…yes. Yes I am." He nodded. "And you're…you're…" It was too dark to see what she was doing. _So much for a sarcastic comeback_. Her shadowy form shifted in the darkness until she knelt next to him, now close enough for his eyes to see clearly. Odd, she was wearing her usual blue t-shirt under a white long-sleeve and jeans, but they were covered in dirt.

"Jesus, what happened to you?"

"I…pardon?"

"You look like you've been out mud-wrestling or something." He commented, flicking at a few specks of dry dirt on her shoulder. "You know, you're supposed to take off your clothes before you go do that. It saves on laundry fees, and its way sexier." He was expecting to be either yelled or snorted at for that remark, but instead she seemed to ignore it completely. She just kept staring at him oddly.

_Well, this is creepy._ Detracted as he wanted to be from this gaze, he pulled himself quickly onto his feet, now aware that he was fully clothed, shoes and all.

"Are…are you okay?" Once again, this was spoken in this odd, carefully concerned voice of hers. She seemed like she was genuinely worried about his welfare, but simultaneously wary of him, as if she was expecting something bad to happen.

"Jim dandy." He replied with a yawn. He did feel a good deal stiffer than usual, but hardly anything worth fretting over. Arms raised, eyes closed, muscles were stretched and all the usual spots were popped and cracked. Afterwards, he opened his eyes to see that Al was still giving him that odd look. "What?.?"

"Do you…? Um…I…" VERY strange. She acted like she wanted to ask something, but didn't know what the question was. Exhaling in mild frustration, he dismissed her stammering and stared at his watch.

"What time is it?" Fingering around for the button, the backlight came on and the digital readout displayed 3:27. "A.M.?.!"

_Holy hell. Yeah, that explain the grogginess, but what's Al doing up at this hour? And what's she doing here at all? And… where is here?.? _In the light his watch gave off, though, Max got a good look at his own sleeve, which was also covered in dried dirt. _The hell?_ Giving himself a quick look-over, he saw that all of his clothes were just filthy. _Aw, man…_ With another irritated sigh, he brushed his hands over his coat and shirt, flaking off what dirt would come off.

Finishing off his collar, Max looked over the room again now that his eyes had adjusted again. Yup, this was definitely a wooden cabin…or rather a hut of some kind. _Wow. This is really old school. I…wait a sec. _A though came to him suddenly, and he slapped at his collar again. He hadn't felt something there that should've been, and now realizing that, was checking again. His Toku crystal wasn't there. _HOLY SHIT!.!_ Spinning around, he gaped at Al, who still gaped at him oddly, but now more cautiously now that that Max looked alarmed. _She sees me! She…wait…_

That did it. Memories of what he'd last done came back to him in a rush; Getting shot. Getting chased though the sewers. Clawing off a woman's hands. Al's apartment and her revelation to him. Naraku. The fight at the Shrine. And… and…

"GRANDMA!" Rushing past Al, he burst thought what appeared to be a wooden door. Outside, his rush was stopped short at the sight of a forest. A pure, thick, dense forest with a sky brighter and clearer than any he'd seen in the city. "Souta!.? Grandpa!" He screamed their names repeatedly into the woods, but nothing replied. The crickets and other animals had silenced following Max's alarming outburst. He sniffed about in an effort to try and get any sign of them, but all he got was the pure pine and forest scent, as well as bit of Al.

_Al…that's right!_

Spinning back around, Al had followed him to the entrance of the hut, she seeming to be as alarmed as he was. He opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but found himself in an oddly similar position she had been in seconds earlier. He wanted answers, but didn't quite know what the question was. This wasn't the city! This was nowhere near any city, or any town he'd even been in his life! The smells, the landscape, and even some of the vegetation were all completely unfamiliar!

"Al…" He didn't know what single question to ask, so he instead asked them all in a panicked rush. "Where are we?.? What is this place?.? Where…where's Grandma and Souta and…what happened?.!.?" His barrage of queries where only met with the further confused and further frightened Al. But Max was too panicked to give her any leeway. "AL!" With a tighter tone, he approached her almost threateningly, though he really was just scared.

"I…" In no small way frightened by him, she shook a little before forcing an answer out. "I…don't…know."

* * *

**Earlier**

This was well beyond anything her rational mind, grounded in science and reality as it was, was able to accept. But that didn't matter in the least bit, because it happened anyway, and happened with violent intensity. Arms gripped Max as though his limp weight was her anchor against the horrific vortex of wind and energy pulling at them from all directions. Already, she'd screamed out the last of the air in her lungs, but was too scared to dare take another breath. She didn't even dare look. Between the wildly screaming winds and the sickening feeling of imploding from within, the impending feeling of death was far too terrifying to face. All she could manage to do was cling on to Max, hold her breath, and pray that it would be over soon and painlessly.

When another explosion boomed out, Al's entire body shook out of reflex. This blast, however, had been different from the last one… it started off extremely loud, but was quickly hushed. Muffled out, almost, as though someone had thrown a blanket over it. Then, the imploding feeling just suddenly stopped. Everything was silent now. She couldn't feel or hear anything around her…no wind, no sound…she didn't even feel the ground. She couldn't even feel the pull of gravity! All she could feel was the body of Max, which she was still grasping onto like a lifeline. Her limbs and her hair felt as though they floated weightlessly.

Seconds passed where she awaited anything else to happen. Nothing would, so she finally gained enough courage to open up one eye. When she opened it just a little, however, seeing what little she did made her snap both wide open.

The world was gone.

There was no Shrine. No earth beneath them. No sky above them. Nothing of the natural world she knew of was there anymore. In its place, there was instead something she didn't know how to categorize… it looked like they were floating in a sea of dense blue light, though it wasn't "light" in the traditional way she'd known it. It was more like they'd been submerged underwater, except the "water" was bright and luminescent. It flowed and drifted around them in waves, the similarity of its movement somewhere in between liquid and smoke.

She'd unconsciously started breathing again. There was air around them, but it felt…thicker, somehow. Like a dense fog, only she could see the waves of light moving toward her mouth as she breathed in, and away as she breathed out. It warmed her lungs as though they'd been soaked in a therapeutic bath. Was she inhaling light?

Moreso than that, her mere breathing was the only sound that could be heard in this tidal of light, only it seemed to be amplified several times. Max's breathing, while much shallower, could also be heard very clearly. It was like any noise they made was bouncing off the columns of light and bouncing immediately back at them, more powerful than ever.

"…Max?" She finally asked the sleeping body in her arms, her full voice much louder than she'd intended. He made no response, despite how undeliberately loud she'd been. He was out, but there was no question that he was breathing, too. Even his heartbeat , in this amplified soundscape, was nearly audible. Still not knowing what to do, she just held on to him while they seemed to float aimlessly in these calm waves.

The big, silver tail he'd always kept on his shoulders was now floating around them like a rag in space. When it very nearly brushed up against her face, she tentatively released a hand from Max's torso and reached for it. Almost as though she were in a daze, her hand gently grasped at the outermost fur on the thick mane. Strange…despite knowing Max all these years, she'd never once felt this appendage before. Why on earth the irrational desire had hit her now of all times and places was beyond her, but she didn't know what else to do. In this weightless place, the tail felt incredibly soft, yet still thick and firm.

How long had she been here? How long had she been holding on to this? Time felt like a variable in an algebra equation, as she lost all sense of it, but at some point she chose to release the tail and let it float free in the space.

"…Are we dead?" She finally called out, uncaring of how much louder her voice was. She hoped someone, something would answer, but no reply came. Not a God, not an angel, not anything that could offer her a hint as to what was going on. All that kept them company were the waves of light, still swaying calmly and silently around them, holding them afloat like an ethereal pair of mother's arms. If they were dead, then perhaps this was purgatory. After all, she was an atheist. Maybe this was God's punishment for infidelity to Him.

And if that was the case, then Max was probably here also for the way he constantly used Jesus' name in vain.

Time continued to pass, leaving Al only to stare hypnotically at the scenery around her like one entranced by a lava lamp. Fear was still alive and well within her, but there was also a fascination in some uncertain way. Similar, somehow, to the fascination she'd had with Max's appearance… it was something so completely… unfathomable. They were things that couldn't and shouldn't exist in the world she knew, and that foreign element made it both frightening and attractive all at once.

At some point, Max's tail seemed to slowly droop back down, as eventually did Al's hair and limbs. The warmth surrounding them was going cold, the light was fading out and she felt gravity beginning to settle in again. Once again, her arms wrapped around his torso as the sensation of floating faded into a very distinct feeling of falling. The light dissipated, cold wind rushed up from below at them, and Al closed her eyes, beginning to scream again.

It didn't last long. She finally impacted onto something that nearly knocked her out, then felt a cold, gooey substance all over the unleveled surface she landed on. In her shock, she'd released Max and now laid alone on something that felt quite the opposite of what she'd been feeling earlier. Fighting to take a breath after this sudden blow, she managed to inhale some of the cold, thin air. After forcing a few more breaths of this new, regrettably normal oxygen, Al reopened her eyes and, with shaking hands, readjusted her glasses. However, they hardly helped her vision, as they were spattered with some brown substance.

Mud?

Groaning, her body rolled over and onto her hands and knees, where she took a few moments to steady her breathing. Yep, that gooey substance had been a thin layer of mud on a dirt ground, which she had in various spots all over her. Turning around, she spotted Max a few feet to her side, and panicked when she saw that he was laying face down in said mud. Lunging towards him, her hands pushed his whole body onto its side. That got him covered even worse in the filth, but his respiratory passages were at least unobstructed. His chest still heaved up and down regularly, so he was still breathing comfortably.

Max's safety assured, her limbs forced themselves to stand up. It wasn't easy… she was shaking a lot more than she'd realized, unable to suppress it if she tried. She wasn't sure if it was the cold wind blowing against her damp clothes, or the trauma she'd just been through. Still she fought her way until her legs hefted the rest of her up into a weak standing position. From there, she could finally examine her surroundings.

A forest. The two of them had, for lack of a better word, "landed" in a small clearing within an otherwise dense forest. A small cabin… or rather, hut, stood erect at the center of it, just a few yards away from where they were, her attention brought to it by the light banging the door was making as the breeze opened and shut it. Embers of a dying fire were present before it, a trail of thin smoke lifting up from it to an evening sky. The sun was equally dying, its red stain across the sky growing smaller by the second. Even now, stars were becoming somewhat visible.

They were most certainly not in the city anymore. Given that the sky was so clear, they also couldn't be anywhere near a city. That made absolutely no sense, given that they'd been right in the middle of one mere minutes ago, but, then again, what in the last few moments had made any sense?

"H-hel…" It took still another deep breath for the poor girl to be able to even speak properly. "Hello?" Her call went off in the direction of the hut. Someone had to be there, seeing that the fire had to have been made by human hands recently. Apprehensively, she tried again. "HELLO?" The fact that she had her hands around her mouth didn't change the results; nothing responded.

Then she jumped when she heard something that sounded vaguely like a growl coming from very, very close. But it was no animal. Not exactly. It was Max.

He was snoring.

* * *

**Present**

"That's just it." She finished relaying her experience to a now calmer Max. "I can't…really explain any of it. That's just what happened." (Although she had tactfully kept the part about groping his tail to herself.) Sitting together with her in the hut, Max listening with an attentiveness he rarely used. The last images he could remember before he'd passed out kept flashing in his mind… Grandma, Grandpa and Souta, apparently free and safe from Naraku… although those brief flashes could hardly confirm anyone's safety. Al had told him that it had seemed like that "shockwave" of energy he'd unleashed had purged the Infestation out of those people, his uncle included. That did offer him some measure of relief, but it still killed him to not be there to make absolutely certain they were okay.

Furthermore, he'd had a hard time fully digesting everything she'd told him. HE'd created some sort of an explosion of energy that killed off the Infested? HE'd created some sort of vortex that pulled him and Al in, left them floating in a blue light and then dropped them off right smack dab in the middle of God-Knows-Where?

"O-kay." He spoke it very slowly, as though each syllable were a word in itself. As near-impossible as it all was to believe, Al's testimony was the only indication he'd had as to what happened, no matter how poorly informative it was.

"What…what exactly, did you DO?" She verbally echoed the exact same thing he was wondering.

"I…don't…know." He verbally echoed her earlier explanation to his questions.

_Aren't we just a lovely, clueless pair?_

"Woah…wait…what'dya mean you don't know?" Gone now was the gentleness of before, now replaced with irritation. The glorious return of classic Al. "You where the one who did this!"

"I said I don't know!" Max snapped back, equally frustrated by the given situation. "Look, if what you just said is right and I did do all that, obviously I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I was an accident?"

"I…yeah, I guess."

"No. No no. People 'accidentally' drop things. People 'accidentally' forget to set their alarm clocks and wake up late. In the worst cases, people 'accidentally' drive their cars off the road and kill somebody. Nobody 'accidentally' makes a vortex that sucks people up and drops them off in the middle of the woods!"

"Well…" Arms waved around desperately. "…shit, Al, apparently, I do. I don't know!"

"Max, God Damn it, WHAT HAPPENED?.!" She just kept pressing at him with greater and greater fury.

"I…DON'T…KNOW!" And he just kept meeting the degree of passion in her inquisition with an equal degree of passion in his ignorance.

"Max…please…" Hands covered her face as her voice began to break again. "…I am really scared here."

"Well, Jesus, how do you think I feel?" His attempt to maintain his cool felt about as fruitless as hers. "Look, I… I very, truthfully, seriously do not know why or what did all this! Hell, I don't even remember what happened since before that…that freak stuck me with that weird shit of his!" The boy did NOT want to have this kind of argument right now. But, then again, he did not want a lot of the things that he'd ended up getting today anyway.

"What was that thing, anyway? Why…why was he trying to kill you?"

"I don't know."

"How…" She wasn't yelling anymore, but the frustration coming from her remained strong as ever. "…how can you not know these things?"

"I just don't! Al, that thing just started chasing after me this afternoon! I don't know who he was, WHAT he was, or why he had it in for me!"

"…but…you said…ARRGGHH!" No small part of him was starting to feel sorry for her. She really wasn't taking this well. "You…you said you're a demon, right?"

"…yeah?"

"Well, then isn't this…this… whatever the hell's been happening, isn't it all part of some… demon subcultural thing or something?"

"Demon subcultu… what?"

"I don't know! You're not human! You have… powers and stuff that let you make others think you're human… isn't this all this some other occult stuff you do?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Part of him began to understand why she wouldn't stop badgering him; she knew he was inhuman, but he still hadn't taken the time to explain to her what he was or what his history was. Given all the recent supernatural happenings, the frightened girl was desperate for answers, and not knowing any better was making her claw at Max for them, him being the only other supernatural element present. Sighing, he tried a gentler tactic. "Al, look, I am only this much …" Emphasis was created by showing a very small space between his thumb and his index finger. "… less confused than you are right now. Yes, I disguised myself as a human, but that's all I've ever done that's really…magical or whatever you want to call it. Nothing like this…nothing CLOSE to this kind of shit has ever happened to me before today." He'd kept his eyes locked right with hers in hopes that would convince her of the sincerity in his claims. It seemingly worked to some extent, as she calmed down a little and dejectedly relaxed back into her sitting position.

"…yesterday." The word just huffed quickly out of her mouth as though she'd tried to relay it to him subliminally.

"Huh?"

"You've… you've been unconscious for about a day now."

"A…" Now that, that got his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets. "…a day?.! Wh… you mean like…like a 24 hours kind of day?"

_As opposed to the 27 hour day, moron?_

"A little longer than that, actually." Not that he didn't believe her, but he still looked at his watch just to double-check that… and yes, the digital readout confirmed that it was a full two days later. He'd spent the day before yesterday evening, all of yesterday, and the first four hours of today unconscious.

"Holy fu-u-u-ucking hell." Not knowing what else to do, the exasperated demon settled on dropping his head to the floor, letting his forehead suffer the wrath of gravity and the solid wood below it. He remained that way silently until his ears picked up the distinct sound of a stomach rumbling. That head perked back up immediately, a concern for Al taking precedence over his irritation. "You hungry?"

"It has been over a day, remember?"

"And…you haven't eaten anything?" She obligingly shook her head. "There's no food in here?"

"I haven't checked, but…I don't think so."

"What, you mean you've been here a day and haven't even looked?" Her gaze returned to the floor, not really ashamed, but there was something clearly disturbing her.

"I haven't really…moved much from this spot." Came her hesitant admission.

"There's a dead body out back."

* * *

**Earlier**

"H-hello?"

At this point, her breaths were becoming labored, what with shouting every thirty seconds and dragging Max around. There was some fireman's technique for hefting a person's weight on your shoulders so you could carry them, no matter how much they weighed, but damned if she knew it. And damned was exactly what she was, as that left her the option of dragging him by his armpits. It was like pulling along a 175-pound sack of potatoes. "Aaargh!" Already she was spent, even though the hut had only been a few yards off from where they'd landed. Though unsure as she was as to what to expect from the little shack of a building, it was still at least some sign of civilization, and therefore logically something she should investigate if she wanted to find out where they where.

Inside now, it could be confirmed that the place was empty. Whoever had made that fire outside must have left shortly afterwards. The hut was only one-room, barely larger than her own bedroom back home. There was barely even anything inside it…just a table, some randomly strewn about bottles and scrap pieces of wood. Her arms settled Max down as gently as she could, although it was a wonder why she even bothered, considering that he slept though being dragged a few yards and those couple of times she almost lost her grip.

And he kept snoring though every damn thing!

Now needing a moment to rest, Al set herself down beside him while she let her breathing become regular again, Examining the place more carefully, it was made primarily out of wood, with what she guessed was a hay and mud roof. Obviously handmade, judging from the cracks, bent wood and holes which spoke clearly of the lack of any technological precision. Also lacking was any telephone, light bulb or even basic wiring. This was a small, absolutely bare-bones little structure.

Well, there was nothing to be done just sitting here. The situation had improved, but only insofar as that they had a shabby roof over their heads now. There was no food, not water, no sign of anything that could help their situation. Perhaps somewhere in the immediate area, whoever owned this place had left something useful…food, smelling salts, a GPS navigation system or something. Couldn't hurt to look.

Making sure Max was comfortably asleep and in a decent position, Al rose to her feet and made her way towards the banging door, this time taking a small rock from just outside and using it a doorstopper. Evening light would die off very soon, but there was still just enough left to see most of the things outside. Aside from the now dead fire, there was also a rack, presumably for hanging and drying clothes, and a wooden bucket.

This place was definitely old, at least in terms of construction style. It wasn't decrepit or run down, though, like most post-industrial architecture. This place looked like it was used and maintained frequently. This place had probably been built by someone with a weird penchant for medieval lifestyles or getting away from it all. She herself had, at various times of depression, envisioned doing the exact same thing… building a house out in the middle of nowhere, cutting off all communication with the rest of the world and living in solitude. That had seemed like a good idea before, but it was by far not what she wanted at this moment. Her footsteps took her around the perimeter, looking all about and finding nothing of interest. A few other objects that probably served some function centuries ago, but she failed to recognize them.

When she got around to the back of the hut, she at last came across something she was familiar with; leaning against the back wall was a bow and a quiver of arrows. She stood for a few moments, staring somewhat incredulously at them. Worry set it when the sight of weaponry made her consider that whoever lived here could very well be a hostile character. Hell, who knew if this person would come back, find strangers in his house and try to kill them? Al had intended to explain to whoever it was, if they came back, that they'd become lost and needed a place to rest, but that would only work if the person were of reasonable mind. Now that she thought about it, what sort of nutjob lives alone, isolated in the woods equipped only with technology that had been outdated for at least five centuries?.? Probably some social outcast, psychopath on the run from the law or … if she were lucky, maybe the guy was just Amish.

No small amount of apprehension was apparent in her as she approached the bow and quiver. They were also clearly handmade, no work of any production line. Yet, there was nevertheless a quality of craftsmanship apparent in them. Whoever had made them had known their stuff.

She nearly tripped on something.

The tip of her foot ran into some solid object hidden in the tall grass. If not for her cautious approach, she may have clumsily fell right over. Instead she wobbled a little before stumbling back and looking down.

"**_EEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"_**

She fell right back. Her scream echoed out over the forest for what must have been miles. Alarmed birds went flying out of trees from all around.

A woman lay right in front of Al, completely motionless.

Now held up only by her arms, Al scrambled back away from it. Her eyes were wide, her heart pounding, her breath very quickly sounding like hyperventilation. A woman lay in the grass behind the hut, motionless, showing no signs of breathing.

Al was less than a few feet away from a human corpse.

Being the daughter of Doctor Shino Tanaka, and having studied some medical academia herself, Al had heard and read plenty about cadavers. Never in her life, though, had she actually seen one, let alone stumbled on one.

There was a DEAD goddamed body right in front of her.

Al had done pretty well dealing with all the curveballs fate had handed her recently. She'd dealt calmly with Max finding out that she knew he wasn't human. She acted when that monster had attacked the shrine. She hadn't panicked when she'd been sucked up and spat out by shiny blue light.

But there was a DEAD HUMAN BODY. Right. There.

Perhaps she'd been able to keep her cool earlier because he didn't understand the things that were happening before, and what the significance of them would be. But there was no mistaking this. Dead. Dying. Death. Not alive anymore. This is where all these strange happening had led her.

She got up and she ran. Ran now with her own mortality chasing after her. She ran with absolutely nowhere to go. Where was there to flee? A forest, full of God-Knows-What other potential horrors? No, she ran to the only familiar thing there was in this place.

"MAX!" Bursting back inside, she grabbed him by his collar and shook. Hard. "MAX, GET UP! PLEASE!" His head bobbled lifelessly at her abuse, the only sign of his continued mortality being that snoring. "Please…wake up…"

She didn't know what to do. She was lost, terrified, and the only person she could beg to help her was unresponsive. Terror made her want to flee this place, yet greater terror prevented her. She was helplessly trapped in between two insurmountable walls of horror. Instead, she buried her face in her knees, rocking herself slowly while sobbing a few feet away from the unconscious demon in front of her. She would spend the next day unmoving, paralyzed by her own fears, staring hypnotically into the darkness and the light as they passed her by.

It wasn't until the middle of the next night that the snoring stopped.

* * *

**Present**

"A body. You're serious?" He knew she was. When on earth wasn't she? But he still asked, probably due to his own inability to believe what he'd just heard.

_Fuck that. She just told you there an effin' corpse outside. You wanna make Goddam sure you didn't just mishear her and she may have said that there'sa"Lead Potty" out back._

"It's…it's a woman." She continued, her discomfort evident with the way her arms held her own sides. "She's just…laying there." Max sniffed a little more.

_Weird. I don't smell nothin' except Al, and all this… obscene amount of nature. And corpses are supposed to be really, really pungent, from what I've heard._

"Did something kill her, or…?"

"I…I dunno. I only looked at her long enough to make sure she wasn't breathing." Her head was to the side, eyes squeezing shut at the though of the sight that had so unsettled her. "There wasn't any blood or anything around. She was just… THERE."

"Jeez." This was well beyond fucked up. Passing one hand through the hair on the top of his head, the demon let out a long breath while he considered the situation.

_Okay…okay…okay…okay…o…kay…you're lost, you're scared, and, most importantly, you're hungry. Let's just approach this situation rationally, and deal with these problems in order of priority. Or something._

"Show me."

"What?" Al was understandably confused.

"Show me where she is. We gotta do something about the food situation." Her eyes went wide. So very wide.

"I am NOT eating a human corpse!"

"What?.!" The insinuation literally knocked him back a step. "No, no, I meant…God, I meant like she might have a cell phone or something on her!"

"Oh." Calm and relief instilled itself back into her, although she still held him with a wary gaze. "Are…you gonna eat her?" Max blinked repeatedly and growled slightly at the mere suggestion.

"Al, we've been over this already. I do not eat human flesh. I eat rice. I eat beef. I eat spicy chicken wings. I don't eat soybeans, because they're just gross. I eat candy and, when really desperate, I eat fast food. But I have never, not ever, so much as tasted another man. Because that's just sick, and also because the way I just put it sounds totally queer." Still, she didn't appear much at ease. He sympathized, considering everything the poor girl had been through and how shook up she obviously was.

"Listen…" He tried for a warm smile tugging at his lips and gently approached her. "…I'm still the same Max, okay? Probably a good 95 of the things you think you know about me are true. And uh, I am taking into account that time in fourth grade you accused me of hiding Legos down my pants when I thought no one was looking." She didn't smile at that, but her face relaxed considerably. "Al, I truly am sorry that all this happened. And I wish I had a good explanation for it, but the fact is that I don't."

Still she seemed so unsure. And still, despite that he didn't particularly feel that any of this was his fault, somewhere within him was guilt. This, this was precisely what he never wanted to happen; He never wanted to lose friends because of what he was. He didn't want relationships to change. He just wanted to be the Max Higurashi he'd always been, and not be seen as some demon that alienated all those around him. Ever cautiously, with inoffensiveness apparent in his movement, Max gently took one of Al's hands in his own. She didn't flinch away, although she did seem a little surprised by that particular choice of action.

"I can tell you one thing for sure, though. And that's that I will get you back home safe, okay? We'll figure out where we are, and we'll find a way back to the city. I promise you." Great emphasis was put on the word 'promise', as he really did mean it. She, meanwhile, kept darting her eyes from his face to her held hand and back again. Much to his disappointment, she still seemed dubious.

"Okay." She nevertheless nodded. "But could you stop acting so weird?"

"I…begging the pardon?"

"You're acting…serious." Eyebrows raised at that remark, followed with a slightly relieved huff.

"What, I don't get to be serious? I can be serious."

"You're also holding my hand."

"Yeah, sorry, didn't mean to give you my boy-cooties."

"Well, you are definitely the same 'tard I've always known." She sighed.

"And you're still the humorless shrew that can make fun die just by looking at it. Now sh'mon, let's get moving." Rather beaming at having more or less solved the trust issue between themselves, Max put his classically smarmy smirk back on his face.

"Right-O." She walked behind him as they exited, and he didn't seem to mind if that kept her at ease. It was pale moonlight out, so visibility was pretty good.

"You said she was in back, right?" With a positive nod, Max slowly strode around the hut, observing his surroundings with the same curiosity Al had. Rounding the corner, he spotted the shape in the grass as Al stiffened up behind him. Max stiffened a little, too. Despite his previous bravado, the sight of a dead person managed to stir up some sickening feelings in him as well. "Wow."

"Yeah." With a nod to Al, she stood back while he quietly approached the woman with careful footfalls. Closing in, it only perplexed him further that the woman didn't give off any scent resembling death at all. Come to think of it, she didn't give off any kind of scent at all… she smelled…earthy. Like dirt, or clay or something.

_Oh, great. It'll probably turn out to be a dummy or something. Al got all excited over nothing._

Standing over the body, it certainly seemed real enough. The face and skin looked about middle-aged, given the light wrinkling about it. Judging from how peacefully the eyes were shut, the woman almost looked asleep as opposed to post-mortem. The position she was lying in also suggested that she'd laid down voluntarily to sleep as opposed to falling form a deathblow. But there was no rising and no falling of her chest. She wasn't breathing. Kneeling down, Max cautiously put a finger against her temple area.

Oh, she was real, all right. That felt exactly like flesh. Cold flesh without a pulse, but flesh nonetheless. Looking her over again, she wore some odd clothes. They almost looked like priestess robes, but they were the wrong colors, and had a hood on the collar.

_Well, then… let's see what she'd got on her._

Clawed hands patted down the woman's body, trying to feel for any bulges indicating possessions. He did feel something strange along her stomach area, but had some difficultly determining how to get into her pockets, given his unfamiliarity with these clothes.

_This must seem absurd. Probably looks like I'm feeling her up or something. Those cop shows make all the frisking look strictly non-necrophilia._ Still, he frustratingly persisted in his clumsy search, his hand disappearing under several folds of robes.

"Have you found what it is you seek?"

It was a cold voice. It was an emotionless voice. It was an older voice. And it belonged to neither Max nor Al.

Turning his head suddenly to the side, he met the now-open eyes of the dead woman.

Al screamed like a girl. And so did Max. Only more so.

_**End Chapter 11**_

_**

* * *

**_

**A/N: Well! Much improved wait time on this installment. And that's with my 'net service cut off, mind you.**

**This was supposed to be a shorter chapter. Supposed to be, but I can't stop fucking adding stuff. Hope this didn't drag on.**

**This one was also pretty dialogue heavy, and, as always, I want to know how it sounds to y'all. Sound natural? Sound stiff? Sound robotic? Too many pro-nouns? Too many con-nouns? Too many bad puns?**

**Or did I accidentally blind you all with my heaping helping of AWESOME?**

…**no.**

**Sitting Pretty,**

**Koday.**


	12. Obtaining a Sense Of Direction

**Previous Chapter Illustration**

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 32144864/**

(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces.)

I don't think this really requires any explanation.

Didn't have a whole lot of time to work on this, so just rattled it off and photoshopped it up some.

I actually think it came out surprisingly well.

**Announcement**

**(I actually posted this when I modified the previous chapter, but I was having some funky problems making it update properly, so I'm not sure everybody saw it. Just in case, here it is again.)**

**Me: **I'm sinking to another brand new low here…

I'll go ahead and admit that I'm a total feedback slut, but am too gosh-darned polite to try and extort reviews out of my readers by threatening not to release the next chapter until I get "X" amount. This story's a total blast to write, and I'm gonna keep doing it regardless.

So instead, what I'm gonna bribe you all with a little incentive for reviews. How's this:

When this fic reaches **_One-Hundred_** (100) reviews, I'll draw and post a picture of Max and Al naked.

Yup. Dangly, bouncy bits and all.

No, I'm not kidding. I'll totally do it. No comic-book style fake-outs or any of that shit. Nor pixelation or strategically placed objects either.

**Max: **I object!

**Me: **Uh?.?

**Max:** I object to be objectified in such a way!

**Me: …**woah, wait, what? Back the hell up.

**Max: **I don't want my readers wanting me for my body! I want them liking me for my personality! For my qualities as an individual! I'm a person with deep feeling and emotions, Goddamit!

**Al: **No, you're not.

**Max:** Hey… well… okay, no, but I'm still a person, anyways.

**Al: **No you're not.

**Max: **What? Hey, I thought you of all people would object to this kind of degradation! Aren't you one of those neo-feminist, equality demanding vegetarian chicks?

**Al:** Minus the vegetarian label, yeah. But, knowing the author as I do, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be subjected to plenty of degradation as a given. See, this way, I can at least take you down with me.

**Max:** You both SUCK!

**Al:** Actually, I'm surprised at you. I figured you'd be into this. Didn't you once tell me your all-time goal in life was to become a sex object?

**Me: **Actually, that's my goal.

**Max: **…yeah, but… I'm kinda pudgy right now. I'd need time to get in shape.

**Me:** Well then, start working out, buddy.

**Max:** How? You've been keeping my timetable busy with a constant string of shit!

**Me:** I don't care. Figure something out, then. Either way, your pants come off as soon as that counter hits 100.

**Max:** This is bullshit!

**Me:** Anyways…

**Max:** You asshole, the sperm wasted making you would've been better spent drying up in a crusty old tube sock!

**Me:** Back to our regularly scheduled programming…

_**Nikanaru**_

**Chapter 12**

Obtaining A Sense of Direction

_Or_

Insert Witty Alternative Title Here

**Two Days Ago**

Slowly, but with a certainty that was absolute, the crackling fire died… and she watched in envy. Remaining traces of red along the charred sticks of wood sizzled away until a last puff of smoke indicated that the fire's death was complete.

That was how it was supposed to be… a fledgling spark would struggle until it blossomed a full-fledged fire. And that fire would burn brightly. It would burn with intensity. It would burn with passion. It's flames would live fully, dancing and blazing majestically in the breeze for as long as it could. Eventually, the wood beneath it would burn away, and the fire would degrade into but a few embers, glowing weaker and weaker until it passed away.

That was how it was supposed to be.

But she was not the fledging spark, filled with the potential for great things. She was not the lively flame, burning with pride and glory. She… she was the perpetual ember. She was the smoldering remains of what had once been, or of what could have been. Like the ember, she felt as if a fragile, pathetic and disheveled wretch. Now useless, all that remained for the ember, and for her, was to patiently await for death to take them.

Those tired, sorrowful eyes looked on with passive jealousy at the fire's embers as they died. Unlike her, this ember had the privilege of dying with dignity.

Unlike her, it had the privilege of dying at all.

It was the only vice she permitted for herself. She didn't need the fire to stay warm, for the coldness couldn't kill her. She didn't need it to cook food, for she no longer had to eat to survive. She didn't need it for light, as her soul was smoldered in bleak darkness. But every day, in the waning evening light, her cold hands would build a small fire for no other reason than to sit back and watch it burn away. The sight was like a double-edged sword, as it gave her the pleasure of witnessing the natural cycle of life, and simultaneously tortured her, as she was once again reminded of what she could never have.

It served as a reminder of all the reasons why she'd ended up this way. She'd sit there, watching with eyes deceitfully emotionless as painful memories washed over her. It was a reminder that, though she'd been forcibly lead down this road at first and could conceivably blame others for that much, the selfish decision to continue down it had been hers and hers alone. The blame was nobody else's but her own. It was truly a shame, though, that the consequences and the sorrow weren't also hers and hers alone.

Yet, she still didn't dare any suicidal endeavors. She'd already learned the hard way that rash decisions can lead to consequences that you could never live with. And she knew the consequences of what would happen if she were to die were unacceptable… no matter how much she deserved death, or how much she craved the release of it. She would die eventually, yes… her cold shell of a body would linger on for decades, perhaps even centuries. At some point, the clay material that made her physical self be would degenerate; crumble and she'd simply cease to exist, as her soul would return to where it belonged. But she had no choice but to delay that for as long as she could, no matter her own suffering.

Her life… no, rather her "soul" was now tied to a malfeasance that imperiled the security of life as we know it. Her death would mean its unleash upon the world. All she could do, then, was delay the inevitable as long as she could… if only for the sake of rest of the world. That was the last, the only good she could still do. It was a pathetic gift, but then, she was a pathetic person. It was therefore only appropriate that her gift also meant her own torment.

And so she'd watch the fire, resigning herself to her own uttermost remorse; Alone, here in this lifeless part of the forest. This was how thing were. This is how it was, every day.

Every day…

Every day…

Every day…

Every day…

…But not today.

* * *

**Present**

"EEYYYAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Scared very nearly shitless, Max Higurashi seemed almost as if a cat from the catlike way he very suddenly sprang backwards in alarm. Mind you, not catlike terms of the grace and finesse generally associated with felines, but more so in terms of the vocal pitch and the high-strung panic.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

From his squatting position before the not-so-dead-anymore woman, Max had planted the heels of his sneakers semi-firmly in the moist ground beneath them, trying to simultaneously jump back into a standing position and back away as fast as possible. Despite being the proud owner of a big, fluffy tail, his balance went all over the place and his ass ended up squarely on the ground. As such, he settled for performing a reverse crawl away from the woman.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

That scream, meanwhile, belonged to Al. In her own shock, she'd leapt back a few feet. While Max was clumsily crawling away, she grabbed a nearby thick branch, ready to wield it as a blunt object if need be.

_Holy FUCKING Republic of Ecuador, how the hell did I NOT see that coming?.! I've seen ever horror and slasher flick in existence, and this set-up had every scary movie cliché written all over it! Christ!_

When he'd backed up and stubbed his elbow on a rock, the brief wince of pain gave Max enough pause to realize that no one else was moving, and thus the need for wild panic was nonexistent. Al was a few feet behind him looking ready to either bolt or swing that piece of wood at the slightest provocation. And the woman… had not budged an inch. Still she laid there in the grass, her head turned slightly off to the side, observing the little scene with emotionless eyes. Several seconds passed with the three of them simply staring at each other… Max and Al were naturally astonished, while the woman appeared… bored.

No one said anything. No one did anything. In Al and Max's case, this was due principally because they were so absolutely addled by this development that their minds both drew complete blanks. What, precisely, is the standard operating procedure when whisked away to the middle of nowhere after a fight with a monster, and then being presented with a body that seemed dead five seconds ago before it suddenly came back to life?

_She was dead! _Max kept repeating in his mind. _She was dead! She didn't have a pulse, she wasn't breathing, and her skin was…cold! I mean, really, unhealthily cold! What the hell is all this?.!_

When enough time had passed that the woman apparently tired of laying there staring, she closed her eyes again and rose to her feet with a slow but consistent speed. Slow, perhaps, because she didn't want to make any sudden movements that could alarm her clearly affrighted "guests". However, her pace also suggested that she had all the time in the world… she wasn't having any trouble getting up, but it seemed that she was doing it at a meticulously slow pace, as if a habit. When finally she'd arisen to full height, her eyes reopened, once again staring emotionlessly at the two. More time passed, her debilitated eyes staring into their wide ones as silence again perforated the area.

Eventually, her hand moved again, only to reposition her robe from where it had been before the invasion of Max's hand.

"I asked you a question." She impassively repeated, annoyance or anger only barely evident in her tone. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Unbelieving at being addressed by something he was fairly certain was a zombie, Max glanced behind at Al, her expression equally godsmacked as his must have been.

_Okay…okay… obviously, she's not dead. I mean, she's up, she's talking… she's doing all sorts of things dead people can't do… well, besides being really scary._

"Uh…" Max eventually managed to wheeze out of his hyperventilating lungs. Despite his complete and utter confusion, he forced himself to speak. "…gee, I'm… I'm sorry…" Gathering what dignity he could, he pulled himself up. Looking back, Al was still a slight distance behind him. Instinctually, Max was making sure that he was positioned in between Al and this mysterious other woman. While prepared for ugliness, considering the situation, common sense dictated that he should try to be diplomatic and not start shit. "…see I… uh, that is, we thought…" With a pause, he cleared his throat and let the absurd-sounding explanation leave his mouth. "…we thought you were dead."

Her expression didn't change. Still she simply stared at the both of them with an emotionally acquiescent gaze. Max patiently awaited an answer while darting his eyes back between her and Al.

"Dead?" She at last spoke… spoken calmly, gently and yet…"No… I am not quite that fortunate." …There was a definite edge to it. Something in the underlying tones that was unsettlingly pained.

_Jesus… this is several flavours of creepy._

"You…" From behind, Al had finally found her voice, though it was a shaky as her trembling hands. "…no, you… you can't be…. You were dead. I saw you…you weren't b-breathing. You can't be alive!"

"Yet, here I stand." She stated as though the fact that she wasn't actually depressed her.

"But…" Al appeared frighteningly insistent on what her point. "You weren't breathing! And … for God's sakes, you haven't moved for over a day!" These facts as she stated them coupled with what she was witnessing at this moment were causing some error message in her mind that read something along the lines of **Does Not Comp****ute**.

"…And?" The woman bitterly replied, now showing clear signs of irritation. "Do you mean to argue that I am not permitted to rise and speak like this? Am I not in compliance with nature's laws? Should I therefore lay back down and remain motionless so to satisfy your narrow little perceptions of life and death?" As any modern-day person dropped into this scenario would likely be, Al had absolutely no answer to that. This was too much. This was all too Goddamned much.

Sensing the beginnings of hostility, Max protectively moved closer to Al. "Okay…All right, so clearly, we, ah, made an error in judgment here." Max offered, trying to appease this scary lady. "So…again, we're sorry. You are not dead." He turned to Al, and repeated, "She's not dead, okay?" to her, as if to make that clear to all involved.

"Again, you are presumptuous." The woman muttered. "Mortality and existence… how pedestrian your shallow views are." Her head lowered alongside her brow, nighttime shadows forming oblique patterns across the light wrinkles along her face. It all made for an extremely unsettling image.

"…Ooooooookie-dokey." Max was now subconsciously backing away, very slowly. "So, um, anyways…" He tried a few forced laughs to try and liven the situation. "…my, heh, see my friend and I here are a little, uh… well, lost." He left another pause to let that sink in. "So, seeing as how you're not dead, and let me just say how happy I am for you that you're not, I don't suppose you could… maybe give us some directions?"

"Perhaps…" Her oddly formal way of speaking managed to further alienate her from them. "…that all depends on where your destination lies."

"Uh… well, T-Tokyo." It was a simple word, but it was amazing that Max was unnerved enough to make its mere pronunciation a challenge.

"Tokyo." She echoed slowly. "This name… it is unfamiliar to me."

"Wh- pardon?.?"

"I said that I do not know of this place." Now that was just absurd. An incredulous look painted Max's face, his mouth slightly gaping. Al, braving a step foreword, spoke exactly what Max was thinking.

"Excuse me…um, ma'am, but are you not Japanese?.?" The woman scowled slightly at the question.

"I hardly view either others or myself within foolish ethnic or territorial boundaries." She stated flatly. "But if you mean to say that Japan is where I was born and spent most of my life, then yes."

"Okay…" Al continued with enough gusto that showed clearly that she was over her fear. "So, you're Japanese, and you claim to have never heard of Tokyo." The statement could not be made without a slight tone of mockery to it. "Look, not to be… rude or anything, but you actually expect anyone to buy that?"

"I do not expect you to 'buy' anything, as I 'sell' nothing." Max and Al exchanged frowns. It was a bit strange how they themselves weren't so sure of each other just a few minutes ago, but the appearance of this enigmatic woman quickly cemented their camaraderie, if only out of a mutual fright.

_All right, big, giant "fuck this". We're getting away from here before she gets a chance to dump us in a hole and force us to put lotion on our skin. _Max resolutely backed away, an arm snaking around Al's wrist as he dragged her with him.

"Right-o. Well, tell you what; we're real sorry for bothering you. So we'll just be on our way then." Oddly enough, despite her unwelcoming comportment, when Max began retreating, here eyes twitched for a split second as she sighed she bowed her head to him.

"I apologize." Despite the rotten feeling in his gut, Max paused.

"What?"

"I am… unused to the company of others." She humbly explained. "As you might imagine, it is extraordinarily rare that I entertain guests." She motioned over to her little shack to exemplify her point. "I have no food in my home, but there is a stream nearby that you can drink from. It should sustain you until a more adequate meal can be garnered."

The sudden bit of hospitality from the woman put both Max and Al off balance, both of them again exchanging dubious glances.

"Yeah…thanks, but we're not…" Al would have tried to formally deny her hunger, but in the spirit of horrible timing and poetic justice, her stomach chose that moment to groan very loudly. Max regarded her with concern… he himself was pretty hungry, and he still had no idea what he was going to do about it. He'd already promised to take care of Al, but had no idea how he was going to do that. He had little knowledge of foraging for food in the wild, and had never hunted anything in his life. In fact, his entire education on the subject of getting food was limited to kitchens, cafeterias and vending machines. He didn't want Al to starve, but wasn't sure what he could do to prevent it.

But on the other hand, should they entrust that responsibility to this… very, very bizarre woman, who appeared to them under very, VERY bizarre circumstances?

"I can understand your skepticism." She spoke again. "But know that I bear no ill will towards you… in spite of your… invasion into my robe." No small amount of red colored Max's cheeks.

"I… Hey! Woah, no!" He stammered, waving his hands defensively. "Again, I thought you were dead!"

"So you believe stumbling on a cadaver is a perfectly acceptable reason for molestation, then?" The fact that she sounded so serious also made it just a bit deadpan.

"Jesus, I was just trying to see if you had anything useful on you!" Max flutteringly shouted back.

_Good God, no matter how lost I am, I will never be desperate enough to cop a feel off a dead chick! Granted, that would be more action than I've ever had, but still…_

"Very well." She accepted that explanation. "Then there is no reason for any animosity between us."

"Uh…"

"Please…" She bowed again. "If I seem embittered, it is only because my years have seen many pointless deaths and sorrow. I have no desire to again see it in the form of two young people needlessly starving to death. Permit me to help you. I will also see if I can be of any assistance in your locating your destination."

Max sighed in annoyance. He hated this. He hated the confusion. He hated not knowing what to do or what to expect. He had absolutely no sense of a direction as to where he should go. The scents carried by the wind made it clear that they were a least miles from any city, town, or sign of human civilization, which seemed impossible. He couldn't just run around and hope to stumble on a restaurant before either he or Al passed out from hunger.

The only direction being offered to him right now was in the form of this woman, leery of her as he was. The encounter with Naraku earlier had perhaps rendered him paranoid of the unknown. While her behavior was… off, to say the least, she did seem sincere enough about having no interest in harming them. It was… it was something, at least, which was nowhere else right now.

"Okay." He cautiously replied. That earned him a surprised look from Al.

"Max, are you out…?"

"Look, we'll just get some water for now." He assured her. "Some water from a stream. Which we'll see for ourselves has no drugs or anything weird in it." He leaned in closer and whispered. "And we'll just talk to her for now, okay? It's not like we have anything better to go on right now."

"But she… I swear to God, she was _dead!_"

"Hey, I thought so, too. But, as you can see, she ain't."

"Well, have you considered that she could be some sort of freakish Ax Murderer?"

"I've considered that she could be anything from an Ax Murderer to a Toothpick Murderer." He sighed. "Look, I'll keep an eye on her. And if it looks like she's going to try anything, I'll take her down, all right? But unless you've got a better idea, let's at least figure out where the hell we are." Al looked back between him and the woman, not liking this a single bit. But she did understand the need to get some sense of direction… and to at least put something in their stomachs. Biting her lip, she hesitantly nodded.

"Okay." Max agreed. "Just stay behind me." Turning away from Al, he readdressed to woman. "All right, ma'am. We'll, uh, take you up on that offer."

"Good." She said simply as she turned around and began heading from the clearing into the forest. "It is a short walk this way." With a deep breath, and wavering slightly at first, Al and Max made to follow her.

_Jim Dandy. Just Jim absolute fucking Dandy. I'm walking off in the middle of a dark night into some creepy woods with a creepy woman, unarmed and uninsured. _Brave front or not, Max was sick with anxiety over what he could be getting them into. He missed home. He REALLY missed home. Back in Tokyo, where he could safely walk up to total strangers and ask for the time, directions, or when the next bus was without a crippling apprehension of death.

_Well, you know…_ He wondered to himself. _Maybe that's it. Maybe I'm being too paranoid. Try just being… y'know, yourself. Friendly. I mean, she'll have less of a reason to kill you if you're polite to her…maybe. Eh, it's worth a shot, anyways._

"So uh…hey." Max began as they penetrated into the foliage of the woods. "We didn't actually formally introduce ourselves, did we?" The woman paused, looking back at him in silence. "Uh, so… Hi. I'm Max." He said with a smile and a bow. "Max Higurashi. And, ah, this here is my good friend, Al."

"ALEX." She snapped at him. Although she'd put up with that stupid name he had for her, she instinctually reacted whenever he'd try to spread the damn thing around. Sighing, she faced the woman and, despite not wanting to volunteer her name to a total stranger, bowed. "Alexandria Tanaka."

"A pleasure." The woman spoke in that same cold voice. She followed this up with a bow of her own.

"Kikyo." She informed simply before turning around and continuing onward.

* * *

**Two Days Ago**

Like an atrophied muscle that groaned in shock after not having been used in so long, Kikyo's spiritual senses lit ablaze, not unlike the very fire she'd been watching. Her eyes widened slightly in what meant a small gesture for many, yet a monumental achievement for her. Her legs brought her up with a speed she hadn't used in nearly two decades.

Something, something very big had just penetrated the fabric of time and space itself. Her senses spreading out across the spiritual plane as far as they could be stretched, she paced around her shack of a home like an antennae seeking clear reception. Whatever was causing this sensation was gargantuan in power, but it was difficult to determine the precise nature of it.

Focus.

Focus.

Focus.

Yes.

Kikyo was able to recognize two things. The first was that the nature of this disturbance was dimensional; something that was crossing over from one plane of existence to another. She'd seen this, sensed this many times before in the past, having occasionally observed her reincarnate do so. But this was grotesquely different. This wasn't a "clean" crossing, like the kind that Kagome had done. When that girl had transcended space and time, she'd gone through a clear, woven passageway between the two worlds. Whatever presence this was, on the other hand, it was crashing though the walls of time and space like a person who'd smash though a wall rather than go through a door. For those who were familiar with the nature of dimensional rifts, such a thing was believed impossible.

However, the second, and the foremost thing she recognized made clear why what she was sensing was possible…

Shikon.

There was no mistaking it. Kikyo couldn't possibly confuse that particular energy signature with any other. It wasn't in the same jewel form she'd always known it to be, but the presence was unquestionably that of a being connected to the Four Souls. It was barraging through the dimensional boundaries like a raging bull, sending torrential waves of distorted aura crashing across. Though the physical location of the actual disturbance was several hundred, possibly thousand miles away, it was powerful enough to cause ghostly waves to thrash from so far away.

Dear Gods, it was **him**! This was that child!

Kikyo found herself uncharacteristically stunned. Long before she'd surrendered herself to a hermit's life, she'd investigated every possible circumstance she could imagine under which Naraku could be further empowered… or, alternatively, defeated. The presence of the little demon infant who had escaped this world all those years ago was a huge factor in determining those possible outcomes. Yet, the portal… the well… the "clean" passageway that the child had been sent through was no more. For over a year, Kikyo had sought out the existence of any other such portals that could connect this world to the one Nikanaru been sent to. It was only when she'd assured herself that no such other portals existed that she satisfied herself to a life of isolation.

Yet, now, there he was. Unquestionably him, now jammed in the delicate aural walls between the two worlds. He'd broken one wall on his side, but now he was just… sitting there. Unmoving, though his mere presence continued sending ricocheting torrents across the spiritual boundaries. She hadn't anticipated this. In all her years of reflection upon everything that had happened, she'd never envisioned that something like this occurring.

And now, Kikyo was faced with the decision of what to do about it.

Was he infested?.? No… there was no sign of Naraku's presence alongside his, despite the things she'd heard. There was…something else with him, though. A much smaller, but noticeable presence. Nothing particular. Nothing alarming.

So… now what could be done? Though her own miko powers were great and she could extend some measure of influence over the dimensional and spiritual plane, she couldn't outright push him back to wherever he'd come from. She wasn't that strong. It was possible, however, that she could use her influence to reach out and pull him the rest of the way through.

The question was… would that be wise?.? Having him here could completely change everything… what was indeterminable was if it would be for better or for worse. In the past, most of the important decisions she'd made, both concerning herself and others, had backfired in the worst possible ways. Her decision to live… her decision to die… her decision to live again… her decision to seek revenge…

Although there were many unknown elements involved in this choice, she did know one thing for certain: Someone… quite likely Naraku, would eventually sense him as well, if he hadn't already, and would attempt to take advantage of this. For Naraku to repossess a power like this was beyond unacceptable. Such a thing had to be prevented at all cost.

But… what right did she have? What right did she have to once again try and take other people lives into her own hands? So often before, at times when she believed herself a proud, virtuous combatant for good, she'd foolishly convinced herself that the things she did, she did because they were simply right. She'd choose a path, a dangerous one, but would always convince herself that it was either for the greater good, or simply justified. In those days, she'd viewed good and evil in terms of black and white, and her lack of foresight had cost herself and many others dearly. Even when she was so sure of herself, just as sure as she was now, in the end, all she'd done was foster circumstances under which pain and suffering thrived.

But within these layers of self-doubt and regret laid a thought that had the audacity to form. A thought that dared… DARED to suggest that having Nikanaru here could be… could be used for… good?

Good. Yes. Strange, how the mere apparition of hope so suddenly brought about all these emotions and simple-minded beliefs she long swore off as dangerous.

But… how long had she sat here, awaiting patiently for end of the world? How long had she sat here, drowning in her own uselessness and self-loathing? Here now, was a chance. A real chance to change things. A real chance to make things right again. With the power of that this young demon possessed… she could… she could…

No. No, that was insane. It was selfish, even. It would be yet another foolish decision on her part. She'd…

She'd what? Make things even worse? How could she possibly do that? Already, the world was doomed. The difference Nikanaru would make was, worst-case scenario, advancing the coming of hell by several years. And the best-case scenario was…

…preventing it altogether.

Yes. Maybe… just maybe this could work.

Maybe… just maybe she could still do something right before she crumbled into dust.

And what's more was the obvious danger in leaving Nikanaru where he was. If she couldn't send him back, then the only option she'd had left was to grab him and pull him through to herself before Naraku could attempt the same thing.

With determination fiercer than anything she's shown in a long time, Kikyo's eyes shut as she fully concentrated her holy powers. Spreading her spiritual arms across the aural divide, her soul reached and reached through the distorted waves crashing about. Even trained, experienced and naturally talented as she was, it took everything she had to try and get close, focus in on her target and properly latch onto him.

If anyone had been watching, it would have been a bizarre sight to see this woman simply standing there behind her little hut… motionless, eyes closed and without any respiration, appearing perfectly at ease. Yet her mind and her soul underwent a terrible ordeal to find her target.

Though the process had left her spiritually exhausted, she at last managed to lock her presence onto his. Without taking a moment to recover her strength, she pulled… and pulled… and pulled, trying to dip his floating being to the other side. Now that he was already there, it wouldn't be near as hard to pull him out as it must have been for him to break into there. But it was still a Herculean task. For any lesser priestess, this kind of feat would have been out of the question. For her, it was only near-impossible.

But she nevertheless succeeded. When nearly the last of her spiritual reserves had emptied, the presence was at last falling toward her. It moved slowly at first, but eventually gained momentum until she felt it coming crashing towards her.

When she finally let go, she only had enough willpower left to hear the telltale screaming sound and a heavy set of _thumps_ coming from the other side of the hut before she herself passed out.

In her dreams, she would pray to whatever Gods she might still be in good graces with that she had not just made another horrible mistake.

_**End Chapter 12**_

_**

* * *

**_

**A/N: I imagine the introduction of Kikyo into this story will yield some mixed reactions among readers. I know she's very controversial amongst the fan community, but please, no one freak out just yet. **

**See, even though she's an important character in the actual series, I've personally felt that she's never been really explored as a character. That, in turn, leaves her wide open to interpretation for weirdo authors such as myself. Like Max and Al, I've got plans for her. Big, fat, creepy plans, that I think you might just like.**

**And I guess it's getting to be a regular thing that I apologize for wait times. It's been one of those cuh-razy months, and even this little bit was all I was able to crank out. Anyway, University has folded for the summer and I'm getting a new job closer to where I live! So operations should start running a little more smoothly around here.**

**And remember… more reviews equals naked main characters!**

**Max: **…FUCK… YOU… !.!.!

**Koday**


	13. What Time is it?

There was an A/N: here, but I decided to eliminated it, since the neat-freak in me likes chapter thirteen to actually BE the thirteenth on the list. But I've included the important content… that being:

**PREVIEWS!** Little Glimpses into future happenings of Niknanaru! (And a few other trinkets as well.)

Preview number 1:

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 34160785/**

(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces)

In future installments of "Nikanaru", Max will be armed, as you can expect there to be plenty of violence... and I decided to go with that sword I designed a little while back. It was originally called "The Lament of the Innocent", but then I found out that there's a Castlevania game out there with an almost exact same name. So, I've tentatively renamed it the "Revenge of the Innocent." See, most weapons in Inyuasha are made out of demon bone… this one's made out of bone AND living flesh.

Spooky.

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 34161987/ **

So, that's Al introducing you to her not-so-little friend. Where on earth does she get a gun, despite being about 500 years in the past, when handguns didn't yet exist in a convenient form? That'll be explained (and convolutedly so) in later chapters. Just rest assured, she ain't gonna be no damsel in distress for the entire story.

It's also a similar deal to the bow and arrow traditionally used by mikos in this series, except bullets will be holy empowered. Big, pink shots of justice…yeah!

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 34161226/** (Warning: Just a little bit bloody)

Sooo... as it turns out, Max DOES have a bit of a temper. What circumstances led to this bloody little escapade? Who's the unfortunate victim? Does Max have a potential future as the spokesperson for "Clear Eyes"? (Gets a claw across the face for that lame joke.)

Stay tuned!

And… not previews, but some random Inuyasha-related things I've been doing in the meanwhiles…

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 34160933/ **

I took a try at drawing an older version of Kikyo. I wrestled with the whole "Anime Eye" thing that's been giving me so much trouble lately, and I think I've sort of circumvented it by going for a cross between classic eye dots and the style I saw on "Naruto."

I guess it turned out A'ight.

And, finally…

**www. deviantart. com/ view/ 33116976/ **

A request from another author. She's really into Kouga/kagome stuff. I only sort of am. This was the result.

Let's assume, for whatever reason, Kouga gets stuck in Kagome's time. Let's also assume he adapts quite shockingly fast, and in all the wrong ways.

This is the oldest work here… you can sort of tell the problem I was having with anime eyes beforehand if you look at Kags here… God, that's abysmal. Would you believe that I drew about five versions of her, and THAT was the best one I could come up with? Pllttthhh!

* * *

_**Nikanaru**_

**Chapter 13:**

What Time is it?

_Or_

Profanities Touching across Time  


Why had he hated camping so much as a kid?

_This place is really… um, pretty, I guess._ That was a kind of girlish assessment, he supposed, but that was the only one Max found to be fitting as his golden eyes wandered about the moonlit forest. In this bright night, the normally green and brown forest was paletted with several lovely shades of dark blue. Occasionally, there would also be the sparkle of a firefly, and even the gleaning eyes of a small animal. Something that also strangely aroused a pleasant feeling in him were the smells. When the scent of this pure, untarnished forest had first hit his nose, it came in like a massive lump of unfamiliarity. Over the course of this ten-minute walk through the woods, though, Max had gotten used to the smells and had managed to separate and decipher them.

It would be difficult to understand by human standards, but for a creature such a Max, for whom smelling things was almost as crucial as seeing them, all of this was like experiencing a brand new sensation for the first time. Not only was the air completely free of toxins and pollutants, something he'd never imagined possible, but his nose had picked up on a wealth of new smells: Plants, animals and all sorts of other things he'd never smelt before. If the sense of smell was to be compared to the sense of sight, then this experience was like being surrounded by all sorts of cool, flashing bright lights and neon Vegas-style signs. Only less tacky.

In that sense, though, it was also maybe a little blinding. The sheer number and potency of all these aromas were kind of overwhelming.

After everything that had happened to him in the last few days, Max should have been, by all rights, completely batshit paranoid of anything unfamiliar. But here in these woods, it was… pleasant somehow. As though it somehow excited from within him a child-like curiosity and sense of wonder. Part of him even wanted to chase down each of these new scents and investigate what they were.

Of course, he wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon. Naturally, the safety of both Al and himself were paramount, with or without his funky newfound feelings. Right now, the plan was to follow this "Kikyo" lady to this stream, get some water, and figure out where the hell this fresh-smelling place was.

_Still, though… this place isn't half bad. I really should try to get out of the city more often. It's weird though, we only camped a few times back when I was a kid, and I distinctly remember hating it quite passionately… why was that?.?_

A prick occurred on his cheek, and Max reflexingly smacked at it.

…_Oh… Right._

_The bugs, the mosquitoes, the greasy insect repellent, the canned spam, the hour-long struggle to get a campfire started, the musky tents and lumpy sleeping bags, the being bored out of my mind… and, oh my God, having to shit in the woods. Jesus, that was horrible._

…_but, of course, when we were camping, we at least brought toilet paper with us… now…_

_Holy hell, we'd better find an outhouse or something before I have feel a number two coming on. I have NO idea what the fuck I'm doing here, and knowing my luck, I'll end up substituting Cottonelle with some poison Ivy leaves. _

"Just over there." Kikyo spoke, snapping Max out of his rather dreadful train of thought. She was pointing some distance ahead of them, and a few steps later, and, as promised, there flowed a nice, big stream of natural water. In fact, it bordered on being a river, though Max wasn't sure what the exact size was that makes the difference between a stream and a river. In any event, it was a decent sized body of knee-deep, flowing water. Even it held a distinct, kinda pleasant smell in Max's nose.

Coming to a stop at its edge, Max looked back at Al, who still stood behind him, ever wary of Kikyo. With a comforting smile, Max leaned foreword and dipped his hand in.

"Well, it's nice and cool…" He announced. "…think it's safe?"

"I guess…" Al ponderd, leaning in as well. "The water's running, so that usually means it's okay to drink." Both of them then simply stared at the water, unsure of how to proceed.

"Don't suppose you have a juice bottle on you, huh?" Max tried.

"Nuh-uh." Some movement off to the side caught Max's attention. Looking over, Kikyo had also kneeled down before the stream, although a comfortable distance from them. Evidently, she was well aware of their uncertainty of her, and chose to respect that by staying a safe few meters away from them. Observing her with some curiosity, they watched her hands dipped into the river, cupped together and brought the dripping liquid to her lips.

A rather efficient technique.

They looked at each other again. With a hesitant shrug, Al tried the same thing. It may have been a bit primitive, but she was both hungry and thirsty, and in no position to complain. Her hands dipped in, cupped, and brought it to her lips, gulping as much in as she could. Finding the retrieval process satisfying, she reached in for another handful, as one clearly wasn't enough

_Well, it's a little less than dignified, but hell, who's judging? Not me. No sir. I know how pissy she gets._

Max, keeping his promise not to let his guard down, leaned back a little and watched Kikyo, making sure Al could drink with peace of mind. Oddly, the older woman had only taken a few handfuls herself before standing up again and staring into the forest. Trying to appear nonchalant, Max stretched his arms a little above his head.

"So, um… Kikyo…" Max tried, hoping some friendly conversation would continue to allay any awkward silences. "… if you don't mind my asking, do you… I mean, do you actually LIVE out here?"

"I do." Her tone was as even as ever, and his eyes still stared off into the distance. "Why does this seem so unusual to you?"

"Well… it's just… I've HEARD of people who, y'know, get sick of modern-day life, abandon civilization and go live off in a cabin out in the woods. I just never actually… met one of these people before, that's all." He maintained his smile to make sure she knew he wasn't trying to be insulting or condescending. "And I didn't think you guys took roughing it out here so hardcore. I mean, no phone, no generator, and no flashlights… that's some commitment. See, me, I'm spoiled. I could never live without indoor plumbing." Her eyes glanced to the side at him with a slight frown appearing on her brow. She didn't seem at all offended, but she found a few of his words unfamiliar.

"I've grown accustomed to a solitary life." She explained simply, deciding to ignore and circumvent his foreign vocabulary. "It suits me better. And my doing so suits others better as well."

"Oh… But, uh, why, though?" He persisted with a slight chuckle. "I mean, are you… you're not, like, on the run from INTERPOL or the mafia, right?" Again, she paused, as if deciphering what she could from what he'd just said.

"No. I am not running from either of… those." She looked off into the distance contemplatively. "Though there… several other matters that led to my desire to seek escape and isolation."

"Grind of the daily life got too much for you, huh?" He guessed. This was good. She seemed to be warming up to him a little.

"I suppose it could be put that way."

"Boy, I can sympathize. A few weeks ago, I had these midterms, and, lemmie tell you…" A whistle was added for emphasis. "… I was goin' bugshit out of my mind. About every five minutes, I just couldn't help fantasizing about how much easier it would be to just throw all my textbooks in the furnace and clean toilets for the rest of my life." Another pause was given as she digested his words.

"Indeed." She muttered simply. "The simplest, most painless path… it is good that you did not take it, then. To evade your responsibilities and lead an impulsive life is a decision which will only lead to ruin."

"Well, yeah, I do need that stupid diploma if I'm ever gonna become filthy rich someday."

"…Of course you will." She mumbled again in a noncommittal response.

"Why were you lying on the ground like that?" Looking back, Al had sufficiently quenched her thirst over the course of their conversation and had decided to join in. Although it was as slight as the rest of her mood-changes, Kikyo showed irritation toward the young girl's sudden intrusion.

"I was recovering." She explained, as though doing so was a nuisance.

"From what?"

"I had used up a great deal of spiritual energy. I'm sure you can imagine that a frail, old body like mine needs time to recover after such intense expenditures."

"Spiritual... energy?" Both Max and Al spoke almost in rhythm.

"Yes." When another paused pregnant with the perplexified expression of Max and Al passed, Kikyo took as a sign to elaborate. "I speak of the holy powers imbedded in one's soul. Those with the training of temple priestesses are most familiar with it."

"Oh!" Max perked up. "So you are a temple priestess? No shit, my family runs a temple!"

"I was a priestess." She icily corrected.

"Oh… Ok, So what are you now?" As the question came to her, Kikyo's eyes lowered slowly.

"…I am nothing." It was almost whispered, but clearly heard nevertheless. Closing her eyes, Kikyo turned away and began pacing slowly down the river. They both watched after her until she was some several meters down. She wasn't leaving them, but still wandered quite a ways down.

_Creep-a-licious._

A sputter and a cough brought his attention from the weird woman in front of him to the no less, but alternatively weird woman to his side. Seeing Al coughing up a bit of the water, Max gave her a few pats on the back without a second thought.

"Hey, there. You doing all right?" Al nodded while coughing out the last bits of drizzle from her windpipe.

"Yeah…" She finally muttered between coughs. "…just… held some in my mouth too long." A few pats and clearings of the throat later, Al was breathing normally again. She looked back to him, then strangely at the hand still on her back. Sensing awkwardness, Max quickly retracted it.

"So… you feeling any better?" He inquired carefully.

"Um… yeah, I guess." She spoke with meekness uncharacteristic of her. More silence permeated the woods… Seeing Max looking unsettled in her presence made her feel just a little bit guilty… she'd gone and exploded at him, practically accused him of spiriting her away, been giving him a bit of a cold shoulder and making him feel uncomfortable around her…

…he, in return, had been his usual kind, (albeit asinine) self and had been taking steps to make her feel more at ease. It was really no way to treat him, considering.

"Hey, I'm sorry about before." Max spun his head right around to stare at her with bewildered eyes.

_Huh?.?_

"Huh?.?"

"I'm… I'm apologizing."

"Oh… cool." Max quickly accepted, then took a moment to wonder what he'd accepted. "Um… apologizing for what?"

"Well, for, y'know. The way I freaked out on you before."

"Oh." A moment was taken for him to try and remember any 'freaking out' on her part. Considering that it had only been fifteen minutes ago, it didn't take too long. "Oh! Pff! THAT?"

"Yeah. That."

"Nah, nah, don't worry."

"No, I'm serious." She insisted in spite of his attempts to dismiss it. "I… I was rude and… well, I was scared. But, it was still wrong of me, so… I apologize." The last part was spoken very formally, as she didn't want to appear casual about it.

"Well… yeah, I guess I should apologize, too, then. I mean, I also got a little weird back there." He admitted. "But hey, you know, you're handling this a lot better than I probably would have. Me, see, I would probably be one of those guys you see in horror movies who loses his cool, goes nuts and runs off screaming into the night and gets killed by the horror movie monster." The analogy was polished off with yet another one of Max's trademark smirks. Al probably would have found herself annoyed with it, but the sight of his fangs protruding slightly out from his upper lips did comfort her in the same odd way his otherworldly appearance always did.

"So, we're… cool, right?" She asked quickly.

"We, ma'am, have always been cool." He assured her.

"Great. So… you said you were only a little less informed than I am about what's going on." She continued. "Any chance you could let me in on exactly how much less?"

"Well..." An inquisitive thumb was brought up to his lips. "…only so much in that I can fathom this kind of thing happening at all." Seeing that that answer didn't satisfy her, elaboration came next. "That is to say, I do know that 'magic' and other occult, wizardy stuff does exist… but mind you, I don't actually know much about it, besides that it exists. As for what, exactly, happened to us… well, I'm clueless."

"So, magic… is real?.?" She echoed, slightly disbelieving look accompanying it.

"Call it what you will… magic, enchantments, mystic energies, chi, soothsaying,… all I really know is that… kinda like shit, it sometimes just happens." He shrugged. "Besides my crystal, I never even actually seen any of it."

"Your… crystal?"

"Yeah… you know that stupid thing I always wear around my neck?" She nodded. "Well, I don't wear it because I'm trying to make some kind of fashion statement."

_Not for lack of trying, though. I mean, twelve years I've been wearing that thing, and it never caught on._

"That thing is the reason I looked human. I don't have the slightest fucking clue how it actually works, but I just put it on, and… poof! I can walk down the street without anybody wondering what the deal with that freak is."

"But…" Al's eyebrows splendidly made clear her remaining perplexion. "… how come I didn't…see?"

"Yooouuu've… got me there. I dunno why it didn't work on you. Like I said, I don't know the technical aspects of it, and I never really bothered to figure it out. It just does, and I accept it at face value."

"I see…" She nodded, accepting that explanation. "Are there… more people like you?"

"Oh, Al, no one is like me."

Again, a stupid grin.

"There can only be one Max Higurashi. C'mon, you remember that motivational speaker from 4th grade. 'You're the best and only you there will ev…'" Her scowl quickly wiped the grin and off his face and the stupid proverb out his mouth. "Okay, okay… if by people like me, you mean 'demons', then no. I've never met any, and I don't know of any others."

"Huh." Al was silent afterwards, digesting all this. Turning his head, Max saw that Kikyo was still pacing with her back to them, a few yards away. He guessed she was waiting for them to finish drinking.

"So…" Max started asking the questions now. "What do you think of her?"

"Um…" She readjusted her glasses as she scrutinized the form off in the distance. "I… I really don't know."

"Me neither." He concurred with a slight nod. "Whatever her deal is, though, I don't think she's gonna try and kill us or anything."

"Are you really sure about that?"

"No." He shrugged. "She gives off a way creepy vibe… but she just doesn't seem to me to be the murdery type."

"And on what authority are you making that assessment?" Under her scrutiny, Max bit his lip slightly.

"Well, again, I'm going by my intimate knowledge or horror and slasher movies." He spoke with a hand going behind his head. "…and based on the archetypes characters you usually see in them, she just doesn't fit bill." Glaring at him, Al shut her eyes real tight, took a deep breath, before slowly reopening them with a disturbing level of calm.

"I'm going to humor you for a second and say that we're willing to stake our lives on applying B-movie stereotypes in real life… if she's not the sneaky, stab-you-in-the-back murderer, then what, pray tell, film cliché does she befit?"

"I dunno…" Max was aloof under her insulting interrogation. "She's… something original. Something like you'd see in one of those pretentious art flicks."

"Fuck's sake, why are we even having this conversation?.?"

"Because I'm thirsty, too. And I wanna know if you're okay to watch my back while I take a drink." The frown left her face, and she took another look between Kikyo and him.

"Um…yeah. Okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… I'll yell at you if something goes wrong." With a nod, Max turned toward the stream. Doing like he saw done earlier, Max cupped his hands in and tried to hold as much water in them as he could between the trip from the surface of the water to his mouth. His position was a bit akward, though, and he slurped so noisily that Al could have sworn he was doing it on purpose.

"Stop that." She hissed at him. "I know your grandmother taught you better than that."

"Hey, I can't help it. When my lips get too close to my hands, my fangs dig in to my palms." He scowled back. "Unless you happen to have a straw on you, don't patronize me!"

"Oh." It was an unorthodox excuse, but acceptable nonetheless… she guessed. Max tried a few more times, but the slurping was very obviously repulsing Al. And, while she still stood impassively a few yards away, Kikyo could probably hear it, too.

_I know I shouldn't really care what complete strangers think about me, especially in these kind of circumstances, but… who knows, maybe when all this is over, I might want to invite her over for dinner one night to thank her or something. And then she'd turn me down because of my poor table manners…and then that rumor would spread… it would follow me all the way up to college admissions… Stupid snowball effect!_

"Aw, the hell with it." He decided before, without warning, leaning in and dunking his whole face in. Obviously surprised, Al stared at his submerged head for a few seconds before glancing down a ways at Kikyo, who had also turned her head around to watch the bizarre display. Al just shrugged as the woman gave her a questioning look.

Seconds later, Max's head shot back up almost urgently, spitting and coughing.

"Aaugh! Oh, oh! Aw, Christ, something slimy went in my mouth!" With his tongue wagging out, he looked to Al for sympathy, but she only offered a look that suggested that if was dumb enough to try that in the first place, then he'd rightly had it coming. With a despaired whimper, Max spat out a few more times and stood up, deciding that he'd had enough.

_Eh, I can go awhile without food. Hell, I'll just wait until we reach the next burger joint or something. I'm desperate enough for fast food._

"You are finished, then?" Kikyo called over as she approached them.

"Uh-huh."

"Good." She came to a stop a few feet in front of them. "Perhaps now, then, we could discuss your intentions?"

"In…tentions?" Al repeated.

"You previously claimed to be lost?" Max scoffed.

"'Claim' nothing… we ARE lost."

"And do you have any clues as to where you are?"

"Uh…" Max turned to Al, who gave a light shake to her head. "That'd be a no."

"You have no idea, whatsoever?"

"Well, we are still in Japan, right?" Kikyo's gaze narrowed disapprovingly.

"So you are only capable or narrowing your location down to which nation you are in?" Max paused, receiving the berating blankly.

"…so that a 'yes' to the Japan question?" Kikyo's gaze fell, and then gave a sigh.

"You are in Japanese territories, yes." She confirmed. "Do you know anything beyond that?"

"Uh… nope. See, this is why I was kind of hoping that you could help us." Max offered a slight bow with his request. With Max's head down, he couldn't see Kikyo's look of disappointment, although Al managed to catch it and wonder curiously about it.

"I will… do what I can, I suppose." Kikyo exhaled.

"Really? Thanks!"

"Hardly. It is in my interest as well that you leave this place as swiftly as possible. This forest will become noisy with you two stumbling around aimlessly."

"Uh…" Max shrugged that off. "…okay."

"What will you need to find your way back?" Max puzzled at that question. It seemed fairly obvious to him.

"Well, not much… a phone… a radio… an on-line computer… GPS… signal flares… one of those Morse-code thingies… whatcha call those?" Fumbling for the right term, the demon paused in thought.

"Telegraphs." Al finally interjected. "Do you even know Morse code?"

"No, but I figure if we annoy someone long enough with jibberish, they'll eventually come looking for us just for the sake of shutting us up."

_Sort of a 1800s version of spamming, I guess._

"And where would you find these… things?" Kikyo cautiously asked, still careful to gloss over her ignorance of these terms.

"Anywhere where there's a sign of civilization, I guess. Like, any city, town, outpost…" Kikyo breathed an internal sigh of relief at the mention of something she could finally understand.

"A village I can provide you with." She explained. "There is one a few hours West of here."

"A village?" Max's face lit up. "Sure! That's great." He turned to Al, and held a hand out to her. "You feeling up to a hike?"

"Well, I'm definitely not gonna wait around here any longer than I have to." Accepting his hand, she stood up, and the two faced Kikyo.

"If we leave now, we can be there by dawn." She looked off to the West. "You are certain you're well enough to travel?"

"I feel pretty spry." Max volunteered.

"I feel like I want to get the hell out of here, already." Al volunteered.

"Then I will show you the way." She said with a nod, and began walking off. Max and Al followed.

"So, this village…" He kept wondering aloud. "Uh, what's it called?" With any luck, he'd maybe recognize the place's name and get a better idea of where they were.

"Shahskul."

"Uh… 'kay."

_So much for that._ That didn't sound a thing like any town he'd ever heard of… hell, that didn't even sound like a word in any language he'd ever heard.

"At least, that what it was the last time I'd been there." Kikyo added.

"Huh?" That addendum muddled Max a tad. "How do you mean?"

"It has been some time… the village may have been re-christened… possibly several times, if not destroyed entirely. I suppose it's only fair I mention that." Al slowed down a little, a thought developing in her head at this new information.

"Pardon?.?"

"There has been some heavy fighting nearby of late. It could have spread to Shahskul." The old woman elaborated.

"Is there a… a war going on around here?.?"

"Of course there is." Kikyo's voice once again because slightly venomous toward the girl. Al stopped entirely, her dubiousness in this woman now having evolved into outright disbelief.

"There… there are NOT any wars going on!" Al nearly shouted accusingly. "Japan hasn't been involved in any wars in six years, let alone one on the homefront! What the hell is WRONG with y…"

" Jesus, Al!" Max hushed her up with a wave of his hand. "Would you relax? I'm sure she's just talking figuratively."

"I can quite assure you that I am not." Kikyo flatly asserted.

"This is bullshit." Al muttered.

"Just…" Max hissed back to her. "Just… play along, okay? At least until she shows us where this place is."

"I DON'T trust her." Al growled back. "She's either insane or… or…"

"Look, she's not really my favorite person, either, but I think we can at least go with her until she leads us to somebody else who can tell us where the hell we are."

"And then what? How the hell are we supposed to explain HOW we even got to wherever the hell we are without telling them that you're…" Al's opened mouth ceased its riposte to Max's argument when her own train of thought suddenly brought a certain detail to her attention. That ever-frowning expression immediately went from anger to marble-eyed shock when she looked down a little ways at Max's neck.

"What?" He asked, sudden concern filling him. "What's wrong?" Al licked her lips a little as her eyes darted between Max's face and throat.

"Uh…" She coughed slightly, voice lowering. "… didn't… didn't you say that the crystal thing you wear is what makes you look like a human to everyone else?"

"…yeah. Why?"

"It…I…" She just pointed at his neckline, and Max looked down. With great sudden impact, he remembered one very important little detail.

It wasn't there anymore.

And it hadn't been there the entire time Kikyo had been with them.

The whites around those golden eyes widened very fast, validating Al's particular concern with regard to his appearance. Swiftly, he spun about and faced Kikyo, only to appear even more shocked.

He'd plan to confront her with another question… instead, she was confronting him with something quite unexpected… a bow and arrow, taught and drawn.

_What the …_ Before even the mere thought could pass thought his head, the arrow was released. Max couldn't even blink before it whizzed by his face in a flash of pink so close and so fast that the air whooshing sounded more like a ripping. _…HELL?.!_

Something screeched behind them. Once again, Max spun around, and his eyes would have widened further, if that were physically possible at this point. Kikyo's arrow had found it's home, imbedded in the head of a… thing. There was only time to get a brief look at this creature's lizard-like appearance before it seemed to dissolve in a glow of pink light.

_HOLY BALLS!_

"What… what… what… what…?" He continually kept trying to jump-start his speech functionality as though it were a rusty car engine, but found it to be perfectly useless.

"What just happened?" Al filled in for him.

* * *

Her lined face wrinkled further as Kikyo lowered the bow. She'd sensed the chameleon-demon approaching them for quite some time, but had decided to wait and see when Max would detect it; A test, perhaps, just to see how he'd react, and how the boy would handle it. But worse than reacting late, he didn't react at all. She'd waited and waited… until the monster had crawled too close. She'd had no choice but to take care of it herself.

This was extraordinarily troublesome; even the most base inu demon should have been alerted by that creature's scent before it got anywhere near that close.

* * *

"Did you not even smell that creature approaching?.?" She asked incredulously.

"Smell?.?" Max echoed.

"Yes! It was right next to you… how could an inu demon like you possibly have not picked up its scent?" Speech capacity was now in utter decimation as Max's jaw hung uselessly slack from its cartilage hinges. "Well!.?" She pressed on angrily.

_Okay, Max, get it back together… it's best not to irritate the lady with the deadly weapons and crack aim…_

"You…" He finally managed. "You know what I am?.?" Kikyo's eyes rolled as she snorted in an ever-so-slight manner.

"Well, of course I do. My best years may be well behind me, but these eyes still see clearly enough that they can tell what's right in front of them."

"Uh… wow." He mumbled. "You know about demons?.?"

"Obviously, I would have been a very poor priestess if I didn't."

* * *

What in the world was WRONG with this boy? He couldn't smell worth spit, he had no sense of direction or orientation, and, to top it all off, he didn't seem to be particularly bright.

When first she'd brought him here, she worried that he'd be too powerful, too arrogant, and difficult to control, and that recklessness would lead to his demise if ever confronting Naraku. Instead, it turned out to be the opposite problem… he was simply ignorant. She should have expected it, she supposed. After all, he'd been sent through the well… sent to the same place SHE had come from.

Her "reincarnation".

… That girl had been ignorant, too. Untrained, naïve, inexperienced, unsure and damn near useless, save for a few base miko abilities. The boy appeared no different. It served logic well to deduce that he must been raised in the exact same environment that her reincarnation had been; A place, wherever it may be, that held no proper knowledge of demonology or spiritual powers. She'd wondered if perhaps he might have turned out unlike her because of his different, more obvious natural abilities, but evidence proved otherwise. The brief glimmer of hope which had the effrontery to appear in her mind was quickly being dashed away. Perhaps she had made a mistake after all…

… but then, even if he had come from the same place as her, did that necessarily mean failure? After all, SHE had changed… Pathetic as she'd been in the early days, Kikyo's reincarnation had possessed incredible determination and willpower… she had endured, she had fought, and over the course of those two years of hardship, she'd become a miko nearly on par with Kikyo herself. Who was to suggest that the same thing couldn't happen with him?

What she needed to know now… she needed to know if the boy possessed that same determination. With a deep breath, she gathered her thoughts.

* * *

"Enough of this." She waved off the debate. "The lizard's screams will likely attract more predators and such nuisances. If we are to go to this village, then we leave now." Without waiting for so much as a response, Kikyo resumed walking off in her chosen direction. The fact that Max and Al didn't immediately follow her appeared outside of her caring.

They both stood there, watching after her in stupor.

"Didn't you just say that no one else knew about demons?" Al asked him with near-accusation.

"I did." Max slowly replied. "And up until these last couple of particularly screwy days, that was true, as far as I knew."

"Okay." Al continued watching as Kikyo kept deepening the gap between them and her. "Are we… still going with her, then?"

"…I…" Max scratched the back of his head, well and truly lost. No matter how hard he tried to get a grasp on the current situation, it would violently break his grip, spinning more wildly out of control with each seizure. "I… think we should, yeah."

"…Really?" She was unsettled slightly by the sudden loss of confidence she saw in him while he continued to insist on following Kikyo. He was very plainly starting to look scared, and no longer appeared at all enthused.

"Well… it does come down to a choice between her company and… more of whatever the fuck that thing was." He hesitantly reasoned, looking over at the pile of ashes which were all the remained of that creature. Swallowing unpleasantly at the sight of it, Al aversely nodded.

That much, at least, was true. Whatever that thing had been, it managed to sneak up on them, and it was hard to imagine it had done so for any other purpose than ambushing them. Kikyo had probably saved their lives when they had not even been aware that they'd been in any mortal danger. Even if neither of them were particularly inclined to trust her, the thought that there were other things like that lurking around here somewhere certainly made them think they should stick closer to her.

Seeing as how her silhouette was about to vanish off in the distance, Max and Al made haste to catch up.

The priestess' head didn't move, but she caught the two chasing after her, and gave an internal grunt of approval.

The strange thing now, though, was that Max seemed more… afraid of her now than Al had been. Even as they caught up to the woman, Max now kept his pace a good few feet behind her, following in silence. Worry, and even fear were now obvious in his countenance, and Al supposed she could guess why.

Max was, after all, a creature who had survived on secrets. She had no reason to disbelieve him when he asserted that no one else knew about him belonging to an entirely different species than human, and that no one else was supposed to even know about said species' existence. The only time she had ever seen him seriously scared was not so long ago when she'd first admitted that she'd known. Of course, that was to be expected, considering this was the kind of thing that could easily destroy his life if exposed.

She'd been lucky enough that he knew and trusted her enough to keep it secret. But this Kikyo woman… a complete stranger was holding his life in her hands…

So, yeah. Now he was, maybe, just a little scared, and not without some legitimacy.

"I'm uh…" He whispered over to her. "I'm not going to be able to go into this town, when we get to it."

"…I know." She nodded in understanding.

"So, you can handle going in and asking the people there for help, right?"

"As long as they speak Japanese, Spanish or French, yeah."

_She speaks French, too? Man, today is just full of surprises._

"Great." He spoke quietly before resuming the silence of the trek. As much as Al had always though that Max should have a healthier amount of caution and circumspection, Max being at ease in these particularly stressful times had helped her stay at ease. It wouldn't do to have the both of them paranoid. So…

"So you smell things?" Her question came out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"She said you should have been able to pick up that thing's scent." She explained. "So, what, you've got an enhanced sense of smell, to boot?"

"Something like that… yeah."

"Like a dog?" He grimaced, not at all caring for the comparison.

"Well, it's not like I go around smelling people's asses." He actually looked offended! It was almost cute, and Al barely averted smiling.

_And with all these weird, new smells out here, it's totally throwing me off._

"Can you can pick up scents from, like, miles away?" She persisted, now fascinated.

"Well, not miles. Depends." Pausing in thought, he wondered how he could explain it. "I'm always smelling a lot of things. Sometimes stuff does stands out from a distance, yeah."

"That's so weird." He scowled further at her thinly veiled amusement. "What's that like?"

"I dunno." He shrugged. "I've always had it, so I couldn't tell what it's like without it."

"Hmm."

"I guess it's like any other sense. Like, y'know, just hearing stuff. But with your nose."

"Must make going into a public bathroom painful."

"Christ, you don't know the half of it."

"So… how do I smell?" To that question, a mischievous sneer washed over Max as he simply looked her directly in the eye for a few seconds.

"…Nah." He finally turned away. "WAY too easy."

* * *

By the Gods, did he never stop talking?.?

She liked the silence. It helped her think.

And she had a great deal of that to be doing. Much had to be decided upon with respect to what to do with 'Max'.

Yes, 'Max'. That would be his name from now on. Gone now was the name she'd known him to be. She would have to refer to him as 'Max', not only verbally, but mentally as well; Exercises for the mind to ensure that she wouldn't accidentally call him by his birth name. If she called him anything other than what he'd told her his name was, he'd become further suspicious of her. For now, she would feign ignorance. For now, he would believe that she and him were mutual strangers. She would wear the mask of a somewhat benevolent woman who was willing to assist some strangers who had lost their way.

Events were being set in motion. By bringing 'Max' here, into this world, she had caused the delicate threads of fate to shift… though there was no telling, at this point, which way they would go. This time, though, she refused to allow affairs to go uncontrollably awry again. This time, she would be the one in control. And control was best executed when the one being controlled remained unaware of it.

Perhaps, then, it was to her advantage that Max was so naïve. It would make subtle manipulation all that much easier.

While there was still much to learn about him, she already knew the first thing that had to be done… the boy had to be taught about all the basic abilities he possessed. He'd have to learn everything that being raised in whichever backwards world he grew up in had deprived him of. After that, she'd decide where to go from there.

But there was one immediate concern that didn't factor into her plans, no matter how she tried to circumvent it:

That girl… this Alexandria. She was a problem.

He was quite obviously attached to her, somehow. Protective, even… an instinct inu demons felt towards those they considered pack members. It was difficult to determine the nature of their relationship, but it was very obvious that he would be adamantly against the idea of abandoning her.

The girl was a hindrance. If she stayed with them, she'd get in the way and slow them down, and Kikyo already envisioned that preparing Max was going to be a lengthily process on its own. She certainly wasn't one to tolerate wasting time. Far too much was at risk for that.

She considered… she might have find a way of getting rid of this girl, somehow.

The sky overhead made the fateful transition from night blue to a pinkish hue, as the morning sun threatened to peak out over the mountains overhead at any given second. The trio's march had continued on throughout the morning hours, without tire or rest. Max and Al had spent nearly the entire time talking, while Kikyo lead the way in silence, speaking only on those odd occasions when she was spoken to.

It had mostly been Max, asking 'Are we there yet?'. After the fifth time, something about the look in her eye told him he shouldn't ask that again. Ever. To anyone. Under any sort of context.

The ex-priestess had actually found it to be most convenient, nonetheless… Max and Alex had spent mostly the entire hike talking about him… what he was, what he knew of himself and his heritage. He patiently answered her questions as best as he could, with only the occasional insult flung and brief spat occurring.

Although Kikyo appeared completely disinterested, she had been paying extremely close attention. While the girl was bothersome, her questions to Max did offer Kikyo some much needed introspective into how he was, and what he knew about the circumstances surrounding his existence… which was next to nil.

"… If the claws get in the way so much, then why don't you just cut them?"

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

"Why, is something stopping you?"

"Well, we tried. Several times. I broke the nail clippers on them. Hell, I broke the goddamn hedge trimmers on them. Just lucky they never grew out any further than this… I probably woulda had to rent out a diamond cutter."

"And you've gone your whole life without accidentally puncturing somebody?"

"Nope. Though I did learn pretty damn fast not to pick my nose."

"Ew."

"Yeah, but that's not even the worst incident. This one time, I was going to the bathroom and…"

"I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there."

"Huh? Why?"

"Does this story involve bodily functions and blood?"

"Yes. Generously so."

"Then I can easily live without that knowledge."

"Pff… fine then." He scoffed, squinting a little as the first rays of sunshine began to seep over the horizon. "So… what haven't we covered?"

"What, are you eager to get this out of the way?"

"No… but it is kinda cool that I can actually talk about this stuff with someone."

"What about your family?"

"Oh, I could NEVER tell Grandma about half this stuff. She'd kill me. Hell, she still thinks that those porcelain dolls I knocked over with my tail were stolen by a guest at our New Year's Eve party."

"YOUR grandmother? Kill YOU? She's, like, the single sweetest old woman in existence."

"Oh, trust me, she's usually pretty chill, but when she gets seriously mad…wow. I've been on the receiving end of it a time or two, and I can assure you that's nowhere near where you wanna be…Hey!" He realized. "That's right! You haven't asked me one question about the tail." At that, Al seemed to stiffen, a little.

"Oh. Yeah…" She kind of mumbled, looking off. "It just didn't… um, jump out at me."

"Seriously? Jesus, of all my non-human traits, I figured this one stood out the most. I mean… it's so big… and poofy. No?"

"Well…"

"We are here." Al was almost thankful for the interruption. The inquisition forgotten, Max and Al caught up to her… where she now stood, the forest ended, a line of trees cutting off at the top of a hill, overlooking a long range of flatlands surrounded by mountains.

And amongst those flats was the village, still standing.

_Wow. And we're here right at the crack of dawn, just like she said. Punctual woman._

The higher perspective on the hill gave them a chance to get a good look at the pace… the whole town was spread out over what must have been a few kilometers, with buildings and huts tightly strewn out over the land. A little small and compact, but…

The buildings… they were… old. Like Kikyo's hut, not "old" as in aged, but old as in older styled.

_Weird. _

…_and that's a little funny… that place is giving off a bunch of more weird scents I don't recognize, too._

"Well, okay then." Max slowly pushed foreword, deciding to ignore this weird feeling in his gut. "Al, I guess you can just…" As he turned to look at her, he noted the incredulous look she was giving this place, her eyes scanned the town, and the surrounding mountains. "…what?"

"Look at that." She pointed. "No roads… no cars… no telephone wires…no antennas…"

"Oh, relax. I'm sure SOMEbody down there must have an external means of communication."

"Yeah, but…" Her head shook a little. "This has really been bugging me… I mean, didn't you notice how we ran through the woods for hours without ANY sign of human life beyond… her." She spoke that last word almost sarcastically, not really caring if Kikyo noticed. "And now we've got this village that looks like it belongs in a period drama…"

"It's… yeah, that is peculiar, I guess. But we should still…"

"And those mountains… I don't see any watchtowers or anything… and by law, there had to be one at least every three miles of woodland!"

"Maybe they're… down for repairs? Look, there has to be a something we can use out there somewhere, and we'll find it, okay?"

"Yeah, but… God, this is so frikkin' weird… it's like we just stepped out into the sixteenth century."

"Heh heh. Well, that'd be pretty cool if that were possib…"

**CLICK**

Max seized up when something in his mind simply snapped into place. Several things, actually. Most notably, all these weird times he'd try and grasp the situation, and would fail because there was some missing puzzle piece he wasn't getting.

And now he could see it.

In that moment, several things came back to him… Most notably, a story his Grandmother had told him a few times. Something about a well, in the back of the yard… something about her daughter's various travels through it. She went through a well, and it took her somewhere. Where had that been again? What had been so damned special about that well?

"…Max?" Al asked, wondering why he was just staring in the space ahead of him.

_Yeah, that's right… the well did something really special for people. Took them somewhere… no, not somewhere. It actually left them in the same place…except…_

…except…

…whoa.

So, yes, that kind of thing IS possible.

Now, did that possibility, by chance, apply to the current situation?

Let's review… a woman with medieval weaponry and no knowledge of Tokyo… no electricity… no sign of industrial development… no engines… no paved roads… no...

Yup.

"Max, are you okay?"

"Oh…"

As the dawn broke out overhead, the residents of Shahskul weren't awakened by the caw of a rooster, as they were mostly accustomed to… instead, they were awakened by Max Higurashi, standing on the hill some distance outside of their town, suddenly and spontaneously shrieking out over the landscape:

"…**_FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"_**

And so the day began.

**End Chapter 13**

**

* * *

**

**Koday: …………………………………………………….**

…………

…………

…………

**Well, the preceding post-chapter ramblings had about as much substance to them as any of my previous ones had.**

**Much Love,**

**Koday.**


	14. A Barking Dog Never Bites

Ohhhh… Gaawwwd. I don't want to make excuses for why this one is severely late, too, but, Christ… this has REALLY not been my last couple of months. I need to VENT!

Whine, whine, bitch, bitch, blah, blah… there. It's done. It's out of my system.

But ANYWAY, I also had to revamp some of the ideas I had in my mind, because it occurred to me that the way I'd had this thing plotted out, things were going way too slowly. So I've sort of edited what I intended to do, if only so we can get to the cool parts a lot faster. This chapter is where the pace starts to pick the hell up.

….

…

…

….

…

…

…what?

…Oh! That's right, isn't it? We've hit the hundred review benchmark! That means I owes you peoples a little something for your diligence, much as I may not deserve it considering what I put you people through.

Well, then! Have yourself a gander at our heroes stripped of all clothes… and professional dignity!

Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces… and be advised that it's NUDITY. (Albeit, tasteful. At least in my opinion.)

MAX!

**ic1. deviantart. com/fs11/f/2006/ 239/f/c/ NudeMax.jpg**

If he looks a little cocky in the first two, it's because he has good reason to be... that body is (or will) be the result of some intensive training.

If he looks ashamed in the last pic, it's also because he has good reason to be.

I might color both these pics later on, as well. Well see how squeamish I am around the male genetalia with a coloring brush.

AL!

**ic1. deviantart. com/ fs11/f/2006/ 239/4/0/ AlNude.jpg**

I was a bit conflicted on this one here... see, I didn't picture Al as having a model figure, but when I tried drawing not-so-perfect figure Al, it came off all man-like. So I settled and went for not-quite-anorexic, not-quite-chubby Al. She looks like she's still got some meat on 'er, I guess.

Oh, and that thing on her arm is a tattoo. I'm not sure if that's clear, but that's what it is.

THE PREVIEW PIC YOU CAN'T SEE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE SOME WEIRD IS GOING ON WITH THE D.A.!

**www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 38801808/**

…oh, and the usual illustration for the last chapter. (Nothing explicit, besides the language.)

**www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 38786453/**

Now then…

_**Nikanaru**_

**Chapter 14**

A Barking Dog Never Bites.

_Or_

Incidentally, a Baked Dog Never Bites, Either.

"What?.!" Al managed once her heart settled back down into the cavity from whence it jumped, alongside the rest of her body.

"I…ah…" Max's good judgment suddenly came back to him in the immediate aftermath of that sudden outburst… a mental system of judgment whose first order of business was remind himself that he was a moron.

_Dear Maximus Higurashi. The following is a message from your retrospective: "YOU, SIR, ARE A FUCKING MORON." Thank you, and good day._

Once that was taken care of, the second thing on the agenda to deliberate on the topic of what was to be done with the sudden realization that he and Al were now some several hundred years back in time. Or, more specifically, how to break this news to Al.

Pending a conclusive assessment on the situation by the subcommittee of brain cells assigned to deliberate the issue, the president of the United States of MaxLand issued an order that the administration's usual policy of "stalling" be put into action.

"I…said…puppies."

"No you didn't!" She snapped back. "You said 'Fuck'!"

_Damage control! Damage control!_

"Well, if you already knew that, then why'd you ask?"

"Wh…no! I meant 'what?' as in 'what' are you screaming for?.!'"

"Scream?" Max faked offensiveness, hoping desperately to shift the conversation away from the actual context of his poorly thought out vocal eruption. "Hey, I do NOT scream! I… yell. Or shout. Maybe roar. Only girls scream…or those opera singers who had their nuts lopped off."

"Excuse me? You're still echoing out there!" Al pointed out over the horizon, where Max's shrill voice was still reverberating off in the distance.

"…_fuuuuck…uuuuck…uuck…"_

_Goddamn, that IS girly. I should probably start smoking and rasp up my voice some._

"Okay, fine, so my voice still breaks… a little. Uh… well, demon puberties last longer that human ones usually do." Max tried, making up some complete bullshit and hoping no one would be the wiser.

"No they don't." Unfortunately, Kikyo called him on it.

"Oh, hello." He dejectedly acknowledged. "You're still here?"

"Max…" Al uttered through a clenched jaw. "… I want to know, _right_ now, what it was that made you scream… yell… shout, or what the fuck ever you wanna call what you did just now."

_Shit!_ Well, Al wasn't stupid, so he should have guessed that he couldn't lead her astray with an insipid debate. _Face it, buddy… you just don't have that Monty-Python-esque_ _talent for disorienting people with non sequitur tangents. _

_Ah, hell…_ He dejectedly decided._ Don't bother hiding the truth from her anymore. Just be completely honest, but try and break it to her in such a way that likely won't make her panic and, y'know… kill you._

"Okay…" He murmured, hand eloquently placed behind his head. "… well… how can I put this?" A deep breath was taken. "I'm not sure if you can believe this… buuuut…"

"After everything that has happened to me in the last two days, I'm pretty much willing to believe anything." She stated.

"Well, okay." Clasping his hands together, Max spoke very nervously, eyes looking away. "I'm, uh, fairly sure now that our problem isn't so much a matter of our location as it is… a matter of our…chronology."

"…………what?.?"

"Lemmie just check something here…" Max spoke, turning around. "Say, Kikyo… would you happen to know what year this is?" In response, Kikyo raised one eyebrow in the ever-so-slight manner in which all of her facial expressions were conducted.

"Is this some manner of trick question?" She asked after a slight pause.

"No. No, you just take the question at face value."

"In that case, it is the sixteenth year of Eisho." She stated matter-of-factly. Max cringed.

"Uh…" She was going by dynasty era dates… something Max wasn't terribly familiar with, given how regularly he'd nodded off during history classes.

"Or, if you prefer…" She continued "…Imperial year…"

"1520." Al interrupted. Max turned to her with ever-present bewilderment. "The Eisho Era started sometime about 1504. If it were the sixteenth year, then…" As Al semi-absentmindedly deconstructed Kikyo's statement, the implications of it suddenly hit her. "Waitaminute, 1520?.!"

_1520. Five hundred years. Yup, that sounds about right._

"If the Common Era is your preferred calendar system, then yes." The older woman acknowledged. Al gaped at Kikyo briefly before slowly turned back to Max.

"So… what, were you just trying to see that she IS crazy?" Her question was put with her usual bluntness and tactlessness.

"Weeeeeeeellllllll…" Max pursed his two index fingers together while trying desperately not to look Al right in the eyes. "…she…ah…actually…might…not…be…"

_**---------------------- **_

**20 Minutes Later**

_Chicks are complicated._

Max, Al and Kikyo strode fairly casually through the outermost streets of Shahskul village. This feudal town was about the same as Max had always imagined they'd look, judging from all those history textbooks he'd flipped through. Old-looking buildings, primitively, yet effectively built. A few stacks of hay and other old-fashioned knickknacks littered the streets, along with a stray chicken or two.

It was still very early. There were only a few people out, so far. They'd gone a few streets down, but they'd still only crossed paths with two or four people.

This grand occasion marked the first time Max Higurashi had brazenly walked by a complete stranger with no illusionary crystal on. Walking around in public with his demon form uncloaked, it felt to him like he may as well be going out in the streets stark naked. He was understandingly very self-conscious about the whole thing, but Kikyo had assured him beforehand that the villagers wouldn't give him any trouble at all.

And… as it turned out, she'd been right. The first time they'd encountered a person, they'd walked right by a bald, middle-aged man. He was dressed up in the robes that people of the day would typically wear, his hair was rather disheveled and unkempt, and he wasn't particularly clean. Max could actually smell that he must not have bathed in a day or two… it certainly served as evidence that these were less convenient times than they'd come from. But, the man had silently bowed his head as he'd passed the group, as casually as he would anyone else. Max had given him a quick nod back before nervously continuing on.

Now, the odd thing was, his going out sans-incognito wasn't the most important thing on his mind, despite it being a groundbreaking experience in his life. There were just so very many things happening right now, and so much that was bouncing around that head of his…

Being some five hundred years away from home…

The fact that he was in completely unfamiliar territory, around completely unfamiliar people in a primitive culture which he was, amazingly enough, unfamiliar with…

What in the name of hell he was supposed to do now…

Dreaded pondering about what he was going to be forced to do with no working toilets in this era…

But what dominated his thoughts, at this moment, was Al.

_Chicks are really complicated._

She was… calm. Not perfectly, emotionlessly calm, such as Kikyo was, but Al seemed far more settled down than a person in her situation rightfully should be. Especially considering what had happened not so long ago.

About twenty minutes prior, Max had disclosed to her his realization that they had, through circumstances he had yet to figure out, essentially traveled back thought time. By about 500 years. So, the world, the people, the home and the life she'd once had did not exist, and would not exist for what would be the equivalent of about ten of her lifetimes.

How had she taken it?

Not too fucking well.

_**--------------------- **_

**20 Minutes Ago**

After being abruptly awakened by an unusually loud "Fuck!", the people of Shahskul were further roused by yet another loud voice coming from atop the hill outside of town:

"BACK IN TIME?.! YOU SENT ME BACK IN TIME?.! YOU FUCKING SENT ME BACK IN FUCKING **_TIME_**?.!.?.!"

_Holy hell, she's a lot stronger than she looks!_ The collar of Max's coat threatened to rip right off under Al's vice-like grip while she vigorously shook Max, his head bouncing around like a bobble-head figurine.

"I d-didn't do it on purpose!" His voice sounded a bit more turkey-like than usual as the walls of his throat reverberated with each violent jerk.

"Oh! Well, that just makes everything all _perfect_ now, don't it?.!" Her voice continued in scream, despite her face being right in front of his. It might have been considered romantic if the circumstances were… completely and utterly different.

"No… but you know what would make things just at least a little bit better?.?" Max asked, suggestively trying to restrain Al's wrists and gently stopping her from rocking him like a seesaw.

"God! I mean… GOD! How is this kind of shit even possible! And why…?" Her eyes clenched shut, as though her fury was about to make them pop out. "…Why? Why the hell did this happen to us?.!"

"I'm gonna be sounding like a broken record here if I say 'I don't know' again, huh?" Max innocently asked. Regret immediately came upon him when her head dropped down in despair, now holding herself up only by her grip on his collar.

"Well, look at it this way…" Max tried. "…you know that science project that was due Thursday? Well, we've just gotten a really, really big extension for..."

_NOT. SMART. _He immediately realized when Al's head shot back up, complete with a look that suggested she was about ready to take a swing at him. Wisely, he carefully dislodged her hands from his jacket while trying to calm her down.

"Okay, okay, listen… I know this whole thing looks pretty shitty, but it might not be all that bad."

"I…not bad?.!.?" She hissed out through tightly gritted teeth. "How in the hell is this anything other than the worst Goddamned thing that has ever happened to me?.!.!"

"I… well, and mind you, I'm just going by my preliminary thoughts here, but I… just might know how we can fix this." That managed to settle her down, as she paused to look at him very seriously.

"How? Didn't you just say that you don't even know what it was you did?.?"

"I did. And I still don't." He continued. "But I have… heard a thing or two about time travel that might be useful."

"This isn't your pop culture bullshit again, is it?" She threatened. "You're not expecting a DeLorean DMC-12 to pop out of nowhere with Michael J. Fox offering us a lift home, right?"

"Uh…again, that would be incredibly cool, but no." Max replied, quietly surprised that she would make that kind reference. "No, like… there are a couple of things about magic, mystic, alchemy things that I do really know. And I'm not talking this theoretical witchcraft and fantasy wizardry shit… I mean like there are actual proven facts about the occult and time travel… and I know some of them!"

"You do?" She asked carefully.

"…Yeah! Kinda… sorta." He sheepishly continued. "I've never actually experimented with any of this stuff… it's secondhand knowledge from a, uh, very reliable source."

"Ffffffffffffffff…." Her lip quivered like she was about to unleash a hell storm of profanity. Max wisely brought his hand over her mouth.

"Just listen, okay?" When Al took a deep breath and appeared calmer, Max lowered his hand and continued. "See, my grandma told me these stories about this well…"

_**------------------- **_

**20 Minutes Later (Again)**

It took some doing to calm Al down and convince that he was being completely serious about the whole "well" fable. He had to admit, it DID sound far-fetched, but there was never a doubt in his mind that his family would have lied to him about it. Yet, as near-hysterical as she'd been, Al had eventually decided that he was telling the truth… or at least the truth as far as he knew it to be.

The weird thing was, though, once she'd calmed down, she really calmed right down. It was like someone had just flicked the switch on her "crazy bitch" setting. It seemed unnatural, to say the least of suspicious, that she could go from inconsolably distraught to reasonably tranquil in the span of a but a few minutes.

"You know, your dad pro'lly won't be too happy about the stretch marks in this jacket." He mumbled, inspecting the collar that Al had previously held a death-grip on.

"What do I care? He hasn't even been born yet." She indifferently replied.

"Point." He sheepishly admitted, deciding to himself that it was best not to provoke her further… if she wasn't about to enter another screaming frenzy, then he certainly wasn't about to look a gift horse in the rabid, foaming mouth. "Anyways," He continued, changing the subject. "… in all that excitement, I almost forgot… we're still hungry, aren't we?"

"Yeah. I guess." Al patted her stomach thoughtfully. "I dunno… is there anywhere we could get food around here?" She looked over at Kikyo.

"I have not been here in years and much has changed. I'm afraid that your guess is as good as mine." The old woman shrugged.

"People live here. They must eat something." Max pointed out. "We may as well ask."

"Ask who?"

"I dunno… anyone." Max said slowly. Then it dawned upon him. "Hey! Yeah, we can… I can totally ask anyone!" The sudden excitement Max was showing made Al give him a peculiar glance.

"…What?"

"I can…" Max happily said, waving his arm across the street. "…ask anybody! I can walk right up to these people and just talk to them!" That didn't really help Al understand what the hell he was acting so jubilant for.

"Um… as I recall, you've done that almost everyday of your life. Why 's that excite you now?"

"Yeah, but… hey, look at me!" His hands waved over his body for emphasis. "I'm not wearing any disguise or anything… I can totally interact with these people as… well, what I really am. I don't have to pretend to be human so nobody runs away screaming!"

"Okay." She said simply, not sounding particularly impressed. "And this is some kind of big deal for you?"

"Well… kinda, yeah!" Max stated in wonderment. "I feel… I dunno, disguising myself as a human was never a big problem for me, but this is still pretty liberating. It's sort of like I just came out of the closet, except without any of that messy sodomy business." Kikyo's eye arched and Al grimaced.

"Uh… okay." Max looked around the surrounding streets with a new sense of zeal, scanning them for anyone whom he could now proudly make conversation with. There were still only a very small number of people out, though. Passing them by now was a young boy, probably seven or ten years old, dressed up in some ragged clothes and lugging around a large, wooden bucket of water. He made his steps carefully, concentrating hard on his task so as not to spill any.

"S'cuse me, lad." Max addressed the child with exaggerated politeness. The boy's head snapped up with wide eyes to meet the demon's. "You wouldn't happen to know where a fella could get himself something to eat around here, would you?"

Unfortunately, the reaction was not at all what the young demon had anticipated. Rather, the kid's eyes grew even wider as, looking terrified, his lips and arms began trembling. Max watched on in complete incomprehension as the kid dropped his bucket, letting its contents carelessly soak the dirt streets, and ran off screaming in the opposite direction.

_What the fark?.!_

The smile now effectively wiped off his face, Max simply stared slack-jawed off in the direction that the boy had fled in.

"You frighten little children." Al impartially observed.

"Wha… wait." Max turned to Kikyo in perplexion. "But… all those other guys before?" He turned to look down the street again and then back at Kikyo. "What's the deal? No one else here acted like that when they saw me!"

"I believe that child interpreted your question as a vague threat that you were going to eat him." Had Max been sipping on a drink right then, he would've comically spewed it all over the place.

"What?.! But… why in the hell would he…?.!"

"_You wouldn't happen to know where a fella could get himself something to eat around here, would you?"_ He replayed in his mind.

"Uh… okay, I can see how that might be misconstrued…MAYBE. But that's still a pretty far stretch." Came his hesitant admission. "I mean… c'mon! The only reason he'd be thinking along those line if demons habitually…" Another click sounded in his mind. "The demons around here EAT people?.!"

"I've heard stories." Kikyo admitted. "Though it's more likely just a threat they use to keep the humans in line." Aghast, Max looked over to Al, who also now wore an expression of horror.

"What the hell?.? I thought you said the people here wouldn't be afraid of me!"

"What I said..." Kikyo sharply corrected. "…Was that no humans here would trouble you. I certainly did not imply that they would not fear you."

"But… wait, I thought…" His brow furrowed into several lines, distorting the moon-shaped red birthmark on his forehead. "I thought demons and humans got along in this era… or… coexisted well or something."

"And whatever gave you that idea?" Kikyo scoffed. "I already told you that we were in the middle of a war."

"…A …war?" Al reluctantly echoed, remembering the brief argument she had with Kikyo a few hours ago. In this setting, she now had to set her pride aside and silently admit that Kikyo had indeed never been crazy, nor deluded in any way. Even if she had been a hermit, this was her world far more than it was Al or Max's, and she held a great deal more knowledge about it than either of them could. If she claimed that there was a war going on, then they could only assume that was the truth. And based on what had just happened, it wasn't hard to guess what the nature of this war was. "Between… humans and…"

"…demons?" Max finished, thinking along the same lines as Al, but dreadfully hoping they were both wrong. He'd guessed, based on the stories that his grandmother had told him about her daughter's ventures into the past, that demons and humans must have been on at least some good terms with each other, considering that her daughter had supposedly befriended several. Now that he was actually here in the past, he'd hoped that it could at least mean that he could be a demon and still be on good terms with humans.

Instead, there could be a fucking war between the two going on, and he could be deep in enemy territory.

Kikyo nodded her head, confirming that fear.

"Oh God… damn." Max groaned, suddenly very eager to crawl into a dark alley.

"This town is not considered human territory, though. It was conquered some years ago and renamed in supposed 'honor' of the petty war chief, Shahskul. A fool who'd prided himself with subduing a village of farmers and merchants." She continued with some bitter edge to her voice.

"Wait… but there's nothing but humans here." Al observed.

"They are servants. There are demons here, but not very many are needed to maintain control of this village and its residents. They use this place as an outpost supplying goods and shelter for traveling war parties… and the humans are used as servants who produce whatever 'goods' the war parties may need." Kikyo stated, before eyeing Max cautiously. "You can at least smell them, can you not?" Max blinked.

"The… people?"

"The demon masters."

"Uh?" Max stopped to re-scent the local atmosphere… certainly, he could smell the humans, but there were a small number of things that didn't come across as at all familiar.

"So your natural abilities are not THAT terrible, then?" She intoned harshly. "You can at least tell that there are other demons here?"

_Those smells are other DEMONS?.?.?_ The thought alerted in Max's mind sharply. _Holy…_

"Yeah…" He feigned. " I, uh, can tell that."

"Good." She sighed, stepping back. "Then all I can advise you to do is to go speak with them. They will likely help you find the way back to wherever it is you are trying to get to." With that, she gave a slight bow before turning around.

"H-Hey!" Max halted her, arm outstretched. "You're just… you're just going?.!"

"As of this point, I have done everything I can for you." Her stride unbroken, she simply marched right through Max's arm, pushing it aside. "The demons… the other demons are the only ones who can help you, now."

"I…" Max wasn't anything close to happy about her leaving… now that he knew that he was in a completely different world which he knew next to nothing about, having a sympathetic native around was a huge relief. "Could you… could you just wait…?"

"Oh… actually,…" She stopped and turned her head over her shoulder. "Given the severity to which you are ignorant of how things are in these parts, I would also advise that you two not separate from each other."

"Uh…?" Max and Al exchanged glances. "Why?"

"If the demons masters here see a human that they don't recognize as one of their own, they will likely assume either that she's a spy, or simply a wandering stray. Either way, they would respond in ways I would not consider pleasant." She said seriously. "If she stays close with you, they will simply assume that she's your servant and leave her be." That said, she again turned her head back and resumed her medium pace.

"Look, could you… could you just hold on a sec?.?" Max pleaded after her. "We really…"

"Speak to the demon masters." She repeated, not even bothering to stop or turn around. "Their business is to deal with travelers… this is all that can be done for you now. I wish you well." With that last piece of council, the elderly woman resumed her medium pace, back the way going out of town. Max glowered at her, still wanting to stop her, yet resigned to the apparent futility of it.

"Yeah, well… thanks." He called after her, though it was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. After she disappeared around the corner, Al and Max simply stood where they were, in the middle of the street.

Both were silent… neither could think of what to do or say. Al glared around half-liddedly, and Max suddenly seemed fascinated with the shoes he was shuffling around in the dirt. They felt like two lost little kids who'd just been abandoned in a shopping mall by their mother.

"……Okay." Al finally spoke. "So… are we gonna try and find out where this, um, 'well' is supposed to be?" Max perked up and spun around.

"Right!" He noted, index finger raised pointedly in the air. His "plan" for "fixing" this, as far as he'd explained earlier, was to find this "Bone-Eaters-Well" that his grandmother had told him so much about. According to everything he knew, it was supposed to act as a gateway between the world as it was now and the world as it would be, conveniently enough, five-hundred years in the future.

It wasn't much of a plan, considering that he'd once actually tried and failed to use the well back when he was a kid… But that was really all he had to go on. And, hopefully, if it still wasn't working, whatever was blocking the time portal might be on this side.

_With any kind of luck, it's just clogged with hair or something._

Of course, knowing his luck as it had been recently, it would probably be something worse… some magical problem he couldn't even fathom understanding. But, luckily, this was the era of magic and spirituality… maybe he could find an expert or something.

But, in any event, they'd cross that bridge when they'd get to it. For now…

"Well, the first thing to do would be to find out where Tokyo is… or supposed to eventually be." He paused, thoughtfully. "Uh… that's…"

"The Kanto region."

"Right, right." He insisted, somewhat insulted.

_Christ, I know I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar, but I know which fucking region I live in._ Another though occurred to him. _Oh, shit…_

"So, uh… was that ever renamed over the centuries?" He asked, deciding to put aside his pride and acknowledge Al's superior knowledge of history.

"No. Not within the last five hundred years' span, anyway. Although the Tokyo area used to be called Edo."

"Awesome!" He beamed, punching his open palm. "So, let's see… our Shrine is on the outskirts of Tokyo, so that's probably nothing but forestland right now, a few hundred kilometers away from Edo…So… alls we gots to do… is… get there. Somehow." Rubbing his fist into his palm in concentration, his lower lip pursed out in thought. "…and, uh, also, figure out where the hell we are at this very moment."

"And where do you suppose we start with that?"

"Well, I guess we can start with what Little Old Lady Sunshine suggested." He wondered, looking around. "We can ask one of these demon dudes… wherever they are." As he looked around, another person, older this time, probably in his teens, about their age, was walking by. They both eyed him, and then each other.

"I'm also thinking…you should probably ask for directions, this time." Came his sigh.

"Yeah… I think I agree with you on that one." Al concurred. Max stood back as she took a deep breath and approached the young man. Crossing his arms and trying to appear nonchalant from a few feet away, he observed carefully. Even if the streets were minimally busy, he still kept himself way of anything that might conceivably happen. When Al came within a reasonable distance of the stranger, she loudly cleared her throat. " 'Hem. Excuse me, sir?"

The "young man" who'd been looking off into the hill as he walked by, sharply turned his head around to meet Al, a movement similar to a hawk. Standing back from where he was, Max saw Al visibly stiffen when she looked directly at him. Max also noted that the guy was scowling lightly at her.

"What business have you addressing me?" The man curtly shot at her. Frowning, Max started to inch a little closer.

"Uh…I…" Something odd was going on. Al sounded absolutely stunned, somehow.

"Well?.!" The guy snapped angrily at her. "Are you here for no other reason than to waste my time, girl?.!"

_That does it._

"HEY!" Max shouted as he stormed up. "Look, ass nugget, I don't where the hell you get off…" When the man twisted his head around to meet Max, it became his turn to stiffen up in shock.

It was very subtle. That's probably why he didn't notice it at first… but facing him, Max could see it now. This 'man' was not a man at all.

Pointed ears… just like his own.

Eyes that had bright green retinas, and cat-like slit irises.

And just now… Max noticed the scent. No human bore that kind of scent.

This was another demon.

Max stood agape, his own demonically golden eyes wide, staring right into the feline-like demon's narrowed eyes. A massive swirl of thoughts came torrentially through his mind all at once… this was another fucking DEMON! One of his kind! Of course, being in the past now, he knew he was going to meet one soon, but to suddenly and completely unexpectedly just meet one like this was… well, it was hard to say.

Great, scary, amazing, alarming, relieving, exciting… it came to him all at once, and his mind couldn't decide which one it was.

"Is she yours?" The demon intoned, pointing condescendingly toward Al.

"Uwa…" Max took a second to clear his throat and swallow all the spit that had gathered in his mouth. "Uh… y-yes?"

"I see." The demon gave Max a hard look, passing his eyes over Max's modern clothes and deducing that he must no doubt be a traveler for far away. "I don't know what things are like where you're from, Inu… but while you're in our territory, you'd be well advised to teach your slave to employ the proper form of respect when speaking to those higher than she." Max was only half-listening to what he was being told, still staring saucer-eyed at the demon.

"Uh… yeah." He absentmindedly mumbled. "I…I'll do that."

"Good." The demon quickly. "I assume, then, that you'll be wanting to speak with the chief. You can find his outpost in the center this little cesspool of a hamlet."

"Uhh…sure." He muttered still. " That's… that's great."

"Yes…great." Without so much as a bow, the rude cat-like demon simply brushed past them and continued on his way. Both the befuddled demon from the future and the teenaged girl watched after him as he haughtily walked away.

"W…wow." Al said simply.

"Yeah." Max quietly concurred.

"Is that the… first time you've…"

"Uh-huh." He nodded. Exhaling slowly, as if he'd forgotten to breathe, he placed one hand over his chest, noting that his heart was thundering in his chest. It was a quick, inconsequential little encounter, but Max had been wondering his entire life what it might be like to meet another demon…

In an odd sort of way, it was almost like that forgotten childhood dream of one day meeting Santa Claus. Like many children around the world, Max had always wanted to, (along with the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and that "Lucky Charms" leprechaun) but the bitterness of maturity destroyed that dream, just as living in the human world for so long had made him complacent to the fact that he'd never meet another one of his kind. But, all of the sudden, Santa is REAL, and he appears before you! It's such a shocking thing, that you don't even notice that "Santa" is a rude, pompous, elitist prick.

The shock seemed to leave Al much sooner than it did Max, and she noted how Max looked anywhere from astounded to… smitten.

"What, are you in love or something?" She dryly commented. That managed to knock Max back into his semi-regular state of mind.

"Well… he certainly was devastatingly dashing and had those smoldering eyes that you could just lose yourself in." Came his sarcastic reply. "But he seemed to me like a top, and I like to be in charge. It would never work out between us." Despite it all, Al managed a slight exhale, which was about as close to a laugh as she ever got.

"So… middle of town, then?"

"I guess so. And remember…" He added coyly. "You gotta address me as 'master' now, 'servant-girl'."

"Go fuck yourself and die." She muttered instantly.

_**-------------------------- **_

So much had yet to be done.

She'd given them the impression that she was leaving town and heading back to her hut in the woods from whence they'd come. But that would not be the case. She would… she could never go back there now. Not with the series of events she had to set in motion. She could not leave him unsupervised and unchecked. Instead, once she was out of their sight, she'd turned and made her way slowly across to the other side of Shahskul. Far off from where she'd left them, and well beyond out of earshot.

But she could still sense him, even from the significant distance she was putting in between herself and them. Merely being around him, with his power tingling at her, was slowly reawakening her long dormant senses of spiritual and aural perception. That demon absolutely radiated with the power of the Shikon… like the shards of the jewel she'd chased after so long ago, she could feel his very presence from miles away with her inborn powers, the same way she'd sensed him while he was stuck in the void between time and space.

But he was far more than any mere shard… he was very nearly the whole thing. As one of only the two mikos of the Shikon, gifted with the ability to sense its presence, he stood out to Kikyo's senses like the bright sun in the morning sky. Even at this early stage, while he was soft and naïve in the ways of the warrior, like a newborn pup, the power of the Shikon practically oozed from his skin. The poor fool probably had no idea the kind of strength he could be capable of… it was incalculable, even for someone who was as well versed in these affairs as Kikyo.

What needed utmost consideration, though, was that this was not at all like it had been before. This was NOT the jewel. The power was no longer some inanimate object that could be controlled like so much a tool. This was a living, breathing creature. This was a person. This was a DEMON.

The energy of the Shikon was such that it responded to the emotions, to the desires and to the soul of those who possessed it. Even back when it had merely been a jewel, the Shikon itself could become corrupted or purified merely by the nature of whoever held it in their hands. As an object, as a jewel, turning the forces within the Shikon to either light or dark was as relatively easy as switching hands, like flipping a switch.

But the power was incarnated as a person, now. A person with his own independent will, emotions and thoughts that could not be so easily manipulated by others.

Not easily… but not impossible.

Kikyo could sense very well what state the Shikon was in, and in this boy it was… surprisingly neutral. Neither dark, nor light. Far from corrupt, but leaning only slightly towards purity. What was more was how incredibly calm the energy was… normally, it should be swirling around vigorously, but despite how huge and abundant it was in this boy, the power was passive and stilled. Obviously, the boy had rarely, if ever at all, used it.

That was very strange, though. The Shikon's powers should have responded whenever the boy became exceptionally distraught, angry, happy, or experienced any other form of heavy ardor. The extreme emotions he should have experienced at various points over his life should have aroused the Shikon on several occasions, but it felt as if it had almost never been touched at all.

Perhaps… perhaps he had lived a sheltered life? One as free of pain and suffering as it had been of pleasure and euphoria? It wasn't inconceivable, considering that she knew nothing of the other world he'd come from. And his ignorance certainly suggested that he had lived in a place very guarded of the outside world.

If that was the case, then he needed to be educated. She held considerable knowledge of demons, but most of what she knew was with respect to how to more effectively slay them. Regarding how a demon is trained and learns to take advantage of his or her natural abilities, that she knew very little of.

Luckily, she knew of someone that did. And convincing him to "help" should be easy enough, with a little incentive. That matter would be taken care of later today.

But convincing Max to go along with it would not be so simple. The Shikon's energies mirrored how passive the boy was. And, based on his conversations with the girl, he clearly had little intention of staying around. He only wanted to find that well and go back to his "time." If she wanted him to stay and fight, then she needed to give him a 'motive'.

Which brought her ponderings back to that girl. Alexandria… None of the various scenarios Kikyo had been running in her head saw the girl's presence as being anything but a bothersome element that would cause inhibit them in the long run. She wanted her out of the equation, but knew doing so was no easy task, considering that the demon was guarding her carefully. She had little doubt that she could easily defeat Max in his current state and kill Alexandria, but Kikyo also needed to have the boy's trust.

"Hey! Old woman!"

Which was the whole reason she was now doing precisely what she'd just advised Alexandria not to do… wander the streets alone and unescorted. Kikyo continued walking, feigning ignorance at the voice calling to her.

"Are you deaf, bitch? I'm talking to you!" Still she pretended to not hear it. Sounds of footsteps in the dirt came up from behind her, and she knew there had to be at least four of them.

"Hey!" A large, forceful hand came down on her shoulder, making her to stop. She bit back her instinctive outrage the audacity some fool had to touch her person. For now, she allowed herself to be forcibly turned in order to face those who were accosting her.

"Are you senile, or just stupid, woman?" Just as she was hoping for. Demons. Four local guardsmen, probably out on a morning patrol… a bear and a lizard demon, while the other two were of some more obscure variety. All of them were armed and armored, and sneered at her with disgusting pompousness typical of the arrogant. The bear, which'd held her shoulder, towered above her with his eyes narrowed. "Did you not hear me, hag? When your betters address you, you will show them the proper respect!"

"There is little respect to be shown to those such as yourselves." She coldly returned, barely able to keep the contempt out of her voice. The bear's eyes widened at being spoken to in such a way before narrowing harshly and tightening his grip on her.

"A crone like you is probably too old and useless to even bother disciplining. Death might be a far more sensible penalty for those words, woman!" He warned though gritted teeth. "Who is responsible for you?.!"

"None bear responsibility for me. All of it, I carry with me." She spoke back, careful not to give in to the desire she had to burn his hand right off her shoulder.

"I'll ask again, bitch. And bear in mind that your life could depend on your answer… who is your master?"

"I have no master. And above all, I would never degrade myself in calling any of you by such a lofty title." Enraged, the bear grabbed her top robe and lifted her several feet off the ground.

"I thought so." The lizard commented with a chuckle. "She's an outsider. Quite a mouthy one, at that."

"Do you suppose she's a spy?" Another one asked.

"Hardly." The bear scoffed. "She's far too stupid to be any spy."

"What shall we do with her then?" Even being held several feet off the ground as she was, Kikyo gave a cold, condescending stare into the bear's flaming eyes. A malicious grin slowly formed on the bear's muzzle.

"She's too old to be laborer… and far too decrepit to make a good whore. I think I'll just squeeze until those insolent eyes pop out of her skull." A round of sadistic chuckles emerged from the trio behind him as the bear brought up his other hand, preparing to crush her tiny head with it.

"Touch… me… with… that… hand…" Kikyo slowly spoke, proverbial venom now dripping hideously from her mouth. "…and you will not live long enough to regret it."

"Keep talking, hag." The bear scoffed. "It will make your screams all the more satify…" Just as his hand was about to enclose around her face, a sudden spark was felt… like a static shock, only far more powerful. Grunting slightly in surprise and confusion, the bear recoiled his hand. Without missing a stride, Kikyo placed her own hand atop the one holding her up.

A sudden, and very sharp hissing sound was heard, followed by a wail of pain from the bear. His paw released Kikyo, and she fell back down to her feet with an odd grace and dignity while the bear cradled his hand. The surface which Kikyo had touched was smoking and full of singed fur.

"She's a miko!" The lizard cried out, as the group, suddenly alarmed, took out their weapons.

"You would be lucky if I were only a miko, wretched little filth." One of the two unidentified demons lunged at her with an ax. Almost casually, Kikyo waved slightly in his direction. From this small gesture, a burst of pink light arose from thin air and incinerated the demon within less than a second, leaving only ashes.

"Gods… it's that witch from the woods!" Panicked, the remaining three tried to back away, preparing to scream for help, but she would afford them no such opportunity. Raising that same hand, she encased herself and the three of them in a sphere of pure, holy energy. It was low intensity, though, meant only to cripple and pain them, not kill. At least not yet…

Their bodies, and even the air in their lungs now surrounded with miko energy, the three dropped to the ground, writhing horrifically as though they'd been trapped in the fires of hell itself. Standing above all their wretched forms like a Goddess of death, Kikyo slowly approached the bear, who was in too much agony to even reach his sword.

"P-P-please!" In a most pathetic display, the bear met her with pleading eyes, begging over the muffled screams of his two remaining comrades. "M-Mercy!.!"

"Mercy?" She intoned darkly. "You will find I am quite lacking in that. Especially for cowards such as yourselves."

"For-Forgive me! I didn't… I didn't…AAARRGGHHH!" Oh, how it took every bit of Kikyo's self control not to just purify this miserable wretch into nothingness. But resist the urge she did, as this miserable wretch happened to be what she needed at this time.

"Forgiveness, I am even less inclined to." She threatened, making sure these three deplorable creatures would think that their meaningless lives were about to end. But at the last moment, she relented, decreasing the intensity of her bubble. "But it is as you suggested, demon… killing someone is the only reasonable course of action when presented with a life that is of no use to you. So the question you must now ask yourself, demon… is whether you could be of any use to me."

"I…" The bear hissed with what little remained of his breath. "…I will…I'll do whatever you ask! Just… please…don't…!" Seeing that he was completely out of air, Kikyo dissipated the field, and like swimmers coming up for air, the three demons lay on the ground, gasping for oxygen. Kikyo stood above them, staring down at them with all the contempt they deserved.

"You will do as I command, then?" She verified. Looking at her fearfully, the bear briefly appeared as though he was considering grabbing his weapon and making a quick move, but thought better of it.

"Y-yes." The bear bowed his head, and the other two followed suit. "We… we shall withdraw our forces from this place at once! It… may take some time to convince our Lord…"

"No." She sharply cut him off. "You will stay in this village. And you will tell no one, least of all your Lord, of this incident."

"I… what?" The bear responded in confusion. "But… but are you not with the human army…?"

"Stupid creature. Do not presume to understand my allegiances." She hissed at him. "The task that I require of ones such as you is fittingly simple." That was both true and false… it was a simple task… one which she imagined that these fools would actually enjoy… for what little remained of their lives.

"Y-yes, mistress! Forgive us! What would you have us do?" The groveling bear bowed his head down even further. Satisfied with the submission she was being shown, Kikyo laid out their undertaking.

"In this town, an Inu demon recently arrived. As well as this human girl accompanying him…"

_**End Chapter 14**_

_**-----------------------**_

**Koday**: Waaaaahhaaaahhh!

Seriously… come over to my place and throw things at me. Shove my face down the toilet and bang the seat against my head. Hold me at gunpoint over the keyboard and give me the occasional pistol whipping. I'm starting to think that's the only surefire way of making sure chapters will get out in a timely fashion.

But I'm tryin'! Oh, lordy, I'm tryin'!

Oh, and I did some research, but none of it extensive (i.e. wikipedia) on the history of Tokyo. If I got something factually wrong here, then… sorry. One way in which I relate to Max is in having paid very little attention in my history classes. (Not that it made much difference, anyways. Public schools don't exactly study Japanese history in Quebec.)

Well, stay healthy, all!

**Koday**


End file.
